


Settle Down

by July_Ophelia



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Play, Alternate Universe, Daddy Tony, Littles Are Known, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Non-Sexual Age Play, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, classification, daddy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:28:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/July_Ophelia/pseuds/July_Ophelia
Summary: Peter Parker’s best friend Via didn’t pay much attention to her classification before the test. She had other things to worry about. Now, paired up with an unlikely match, Via has to navigate through her new normal and get over her old normal, with a little help from her daddy.
Relationships: Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first story ever published on here. It started as a one shot and I ended up liking the plot too much to let it go. Feel free to comment ideas for new chapters- also, I’m starting a one shot book soon so feel free to comment ideas for that too!!- July

"All I'm saying is if hot Cheetos stopped existing what is the point of eating anything ever again." Ned and Peter had been arguing all the way from the apartment building to the testing center about whatever it was they could argue about, and I knew why. 

After ten years of knowing each other, they knew me better than I knew myself and I was nervous. Like- the about to pass out kind of nervous. They were trying (and absolutely failing) to distract me. Peter and Ned had nothing to worry about. Any idiot could tell they were dominants. I, on the other hand, was a mixed bag. I could be anything. One brain scan and my whole life is about to flip on its axis. 

"Via? Olivia? Olivia Wren James?" Ned knocks me out of my day dream. 

"Yeah?" 

He smiles, pointing to the separate lines we've encountered by the check in desks split by gender, and opens his arms for a hug. 

"No matter what, I'll text you tonight, okay snowflake?" He hugs me tight, letting me go and I look to Peter one last time before I split off. He offers me a hug too.

"We love you, whatever you get classified as doesn't mean a thing to us, okay?" Letting go, he takes my shaking hands and gives them a squeeze before I'm off to my line. 

Sooner than I'd like I reach the front of the line and am given the number of my testing room and sent right to it. The room is less medical than I had assumed, light gray walls and a small recliner chair with the head scan device propped up on the corner of the backrest. Next to the chair is a rolling doctor's chair, occupied by a small woman who seems kind enough to me. She explains the test and before I know it I'm hooked up and listening to her talk about certain interests, occasionally answering yes or no questions about my friendship dynamics or what I do outside of school. It's over quickly.

She sits for a few minutes, analyzing the scans on her pad and typing up notes. Finally she looks up from the screen. 

"Alright Miss James, I am pleased to tell you you've been classified as a little and will receive your caretaker match and information within the week, depending on how fast we are able to contact them. Any questions?" 

"Yeah, I, well, no, I don't think so." I have to leave this room. What once was a comforting environment now feels stuffy and I feel claustrophobic. I don't even know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn't little. What am I supposed to tell Peter and Ned? I can't lie to them. 

"Have a nice day Miss James." She bids me farewell and I head out quickly, speeding home through the busy streets and up to my apartment as fast as I can. 

I don't see Peter and Ned on the way, thank god. I just want my bed right now. When I get there, I don't even bother changing out of my outfit before burying myself under my covers and losing it. I can't help but cry. What do I do now? I was so sure I would go unclassified and be allowed to pick a classification. I was positive I could just figure all this out later. I don't even know how to be little. Well, I suppose that's what my caregiver is for, but still. I wish I knew more. 

I get interrupted by the sound of knocking. I don't make a move to get up. I can't handle other people right now. Whoever is at the door can wait. 

"Via? Via, are you there?" It's Peter. 

"Via babe, please open the door." Ned's with him. 

I can't let them in. They can't see me like this. 

"Via, we're coming in if the door is unlocked." Peter says.

It's locked, I always lock it when I get back home. Except, I hear the door knob turn. I didn't lock it when I got back. I was too distracted. Quickly, I throw the hood of my jacket on and burrow deeper into the covers and my pillow just in time for them to open my bedroom door. I can feel someone sit down on the bed behind my back and I hear someone get my desk char and wheel it in front of me. 

"Via, sweetheart, what's going on?" Ned asks, and I know he's behind me now. He brings his hand to rest on my back, just keeping it there. 

"Nothing, I'm okay." I intended for it to come out calm and collected but I can't believe how small I sound. So little. I can't control it when some more tears rack my body. 

"I don't think that's true Via. Come on, sit up and let Peter join us." He removes his hand from my back and I find myself doing what he asks easily. He tugs my hood off of my face and I quickly wipe my eyes. I don't try to pull it back up. Peter quickly moves from the desk chair and sits on my left. It's silent for a moment.

"Why don't you tell us your classification?" Peter prompts. 

"I can't. You guys might not-" I get choked up mid sentence. Peter reaches to run his hand over my back and I take a second to breathe. "might not like me anymore." 

Peter and Ned gasp quietly and pull me into a group hug. 

"There's nothing that could make us stop loving you, Via. Seriously. Nothing." Peter says. 

"Why don't we tell you ours first? Would that be easier for you?" Ned offers, and I nod.

"I'm a caregiver, and Peter's one too." He tells me, smiling. 

"Congrats guys, you're going to be great." I tell them. 

It's quiet again, and it's my fault. I have to tell them some time. I'm not going to lie about it. I can't. 

"I'm a little." It comes out a quiet whisper and I don't knew if either of them caught it. 

"Thank you for telling us, Via. Good job, I know it's scary." Ned smiles, holding my hand. 

Had they always been like this? Did I just naturally ignore the way they talked to me? Had I turned a blind eye to this my whole life? I guess I had. 

"Thank you." I mumble. 

"We always have your back, no matter what. I think it's time to go to bed though. You look tired and you moped through dinner." Peter guides. 

I get up and go to change into leggings and one of Ned's long sleeve shirts he left here a few years ago that he let me keep. When I come back, Peter and Ned are changed and their clothes are stacked next to a backpack I hadn't seen when I got up. 

"We figured we were staying the night. We had a suspicion about your classification and what you would do." Peter offers as I crawl into the middle of the bed.

"You did?" Was it that obvious?

"Well we had unclassified caregiver instincts about it." Ned tells. 

"Oh, okay." I agree, feeling tiredness hit me like a truck. Peter's phone lights up and he moves to get up and goes over to his backpack. 

"Text from the tower. I'm on patrol tonight. Sorry snowflake, but he's gonna stay with you. Love you, okay?" I nod, too far gone to get up and protest as he slips out of my window.

"Good night snowflake." Ned says, pulling the covers up and turning the light off.  
———  
Waking up, the bed feels empty and there's something on my forehead that keeps tickling it. I open my eyes to find I'm alone, and reach up to get the thing off my forehead. It turns out to be a sticky note. 'Morning Via, had to head out because I got a notification my match information was at my house. See you soon :) -Ned', it reads. 

How are matches coming out so fast? Is mine coming soon too? I should be ready when it does, so get up and try to get ready for the day. My shower is fast and I rush to pick an outfit out, deciding on a sweater and ripped black jeans with black converse. I know you shouldn't get crazy dressed up if you're meeting your match so they can see the real you the first time you meet. There's a knock on the door not even a minute later and I rush to open it. 

"Hi Miss James, special delivery regarding classification." The mail man says.

"Oh, okay. Thank you!" I smile, playing it cool and signing on the line, giving him a wave before I close the door. 

Okay. I can do this. Just rip open the top. Just do it. My whole future is in this envelope. Two words on a piece of paper. Before I can stop myself I rip open the top of the envelope and take out the paper, scanning it for a name in bold. There it is. 

_Tony Stark._ The Tony Stark. Oh my god. Seriously. I scan further down to the box where the caregiver leaves instructions to meet the little. He gives me the address of the tower and leaves a little note below it. 

'Hi Via! I know classification can be scary but I want you to know it's going to be okay. I'm very excited to meet you, and from what FRIDAY tells me, you and Peter are good friends. See? Nothing to be afraid of. See you soon, FRIDAY will take you up to the right floor once you're in the elevator and I'll meet you there.'

No time to waste I guess. I grab my phone and my wallet and take the subway to the tower, stepping into the elevator which opened for me without any buttons. "Hi, Miss James. Mr. Stark is waiting for you on his floor." The voice, FRIDAY, tells me.

Here goes nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

The elevator stops easily a few seconds later, stalling smoothly. FRIDAY speaks.

"Miss James, Mr. Stark is in the living room. I'll let him know you arrived so he can meet you."

The doors don't open for another few seconds. I'm trying not to think about anything, and it isn't working. What if he doesn't like me? What if I'm not the kind of little he wants? What if he doesn't want someone who doesn't know everything about being little yet?

The elevator doors slide open and a wide hallway is revealed leading to a sitting area. I step out of the elevator searching for Mr. Stark.

He comes around the corner out of the sitting area, not dressed in a suit like I've seen him before, but in jeans and a henley, much more laid back than I was expecting. He quickens his pace around the corner and we meet halfway. I hold out my shaking hand for a greeting. He doesn't take it. He reaches out two handed and pulls me into a hug. I get confused at first, almost pulling away until I realize I'm not in any danger, and I hug back briefly before pulling away for real. 

I don't have words. He makes me feel tiny. I'm just a little taller than his shoulders, and he's strong and had big muscles. In any other circumstance he'd scare me half to death, but I know he wouldn't hurt a fly. At least not an innocent fly. 

He's the one who breaks the silence. 

"Hi Via, I'm Tony. You can call me Tony when you're big if you want. It's nice to meet you sweetheart." He smiles kindly.

"Hi." I muster quietly. 

"Come one, why don't we sit down so we can talk. Let's go to the sofa, okay angel?" He holds out his hand, and I stare at if for a moment, deciding if I should take it. I do.

He leads me to the gray couch, letting me sit in the corner and takes a seat to my right. I cross my legs and face him. 

"You're quiet, huh?" He asks, and I nod, smiling a little. He's, nice. 

"I like that smile. Are you always quiet or is it just because I'm new?" He questions, reaching under my chin and helping me look up at him. 

"Everything's new. I didn't know what was gonna happen yesterday." I tell him shyly. I feel like I'm getting worked up. So much is going on and I don't know what's happening next and I'm scared.

"Hey, hey, Via baby that's okay. That's why I'm here. I get to teach you about it all. That's my job. Do you know anything about littles?" He asks.

"We're tiny and we have a headspace and a caregiver and they take care of us and tell us the rules and we follow them." I list off all I can remember from class.

"Very good sweetheart! Littles have a low stress tolerance so they regress for their health, they don't get sick that way. Littles usually like physical affection and need more sleep than average adults. Daddies, well, caregivers make sure a little's needs are met. Do you understand so far?" He asks, looking me in the eyes and holding my still trembling hand. 

"I- I do." I know what littles do but I just can't believe what's happening. I'm a little. It's serious. He's my caregiver. 

"Via, can I hold you? You look overwhelmed. Let's just sit for a minute. It's all going to be okay." He promises.

I find myself nodding on my own, and he scoops me up from the corner of the couch and sits me between his legs, facing his chest. My arms wrap around his torso and his arms go around to rub my back. I can hear his heart beat and feel his chest rise and fall. It makes me feel grounded, and I don't know why but I can't help but let a few tears fall. 

It's not long before the tears turn into real cries, quiet sobs absorbed by the soft material of Mr. Stark's shirt. The floodgates are open and I feel like I would break if I tried to force them closed. He hugs me tighter, lifting me up into his lap properly, and I tuck my head into the crook of his neck so he can't see my face. 

"Oh baby. It's okay, I know you're scared right now but I promise you're gonna be okay. I'm here baby. Daddy's right here. What's going on in your head right now?" One of his hands stays on my back and the other reaches up to wipe away the tears on my face. 

"I don't like not having control." I get out, taking short breaths and trying to come back down. 

"What do you mean?" He asks, hand still placed on my face, cupping my cheek softly. It gives me butterflies.

"My parents haven't been in the picture since I was fifteen. I was in control of my own life. I don't like feeling out of control." 

"You are in control. We're never doing something if you don't want to do it. I can encourage you but it's always your choice. My job is to take care of you, not force you to live my way. I was going to wait on the rules, but I think you would feel better if it was all out on the table right now, yeah?" He offers.

"When you're little, you need to call me whatever name you pick. I know you're going to be a good girl, but if you misbehave you're will get punished. I don't do physical punishment." I shiver at the word physical. I don't do well with physical punishment. At all. 

He notices my reaction and hugs me closer in, kissing my temple. 

"You're always allowed to tell me what you like and what you don't like, and you don't always have to be little." He adds.

"Do you feel comfortable trying to be little right now? You can stay over tonight so you don't have to worry about staying big on the ride home. What do you think?" 

"I wanna try but I don't know how." I nod. 

"That's okay. Does anything make your head feel fuzzy?" He asks, twirling the ends of my hair. 

"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention to it." He definitely doesn't like me. I don't have any idea what I'm doing. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. 

"I shouldn't have asked. Hey, maybe Peter noticed things! Do you want to call him and see?" He offers, pulling his phone out of his back pocket and holding it out to me. 

I leave it in my upturned palm, confused.

"You want to call him, Via? All you have to do is hold down the button and ask the phone to call him! Go ahead sweetheart." He encourages, smiling at me. 

"Okay." I hold the button down. "Call Peter, please?" I ask. 

"Wow, you have amazing manners! Good job!" All the praise and the coddling is making my head spin. In a good way. Peter picks up on the second ring. 

"Hi, Mr. Stark, what can I do for you?" He answers.

"Hey Peter, I'm actually here with my new little right now. I had FRIDAY send you a message when I noticed you two were close?" Mr. Stark says into the phone. 

"Oh, hi snowflake! How are you Via? Is Mr. Stark being a gentleman like I told him to?" Peter teases. 

"Hi Pete. I'm really good." I say quietly into the phone.

"Via and I are talking headspace, and helping her into it for the first time. We were wondering if in hindsight you had any ideas about how to get her in?" Mr. Stark asks.

"Oh like positive triggers? Via's a sucker for praise and she loves singing. Come to think of it, I might have accidentally knocked her close to headspace once or twice when we listened to the Beatles and did homework last week."

I remember that. I really thought I was just tired out of my mind. It was a Thursday and I was up all night the day before finishing essays for my English class. 

"Try soft clothes too, Via always got spacey when Ned and I let her borrow her clothes when she stayed over. Oh, and snowflake? You can trust Mr. Stark. I promise. He's been waiting a long time for a little. He's probably the best caregiver ever at this point." Peter adds.

Just thinking about what Peter said is making me spacey, but I'm not fully gone and I don't think I'll get there any time soon at this rate.

"Thanks Peter." Mr. Stark says and I feel his chuckle rumble through his chest. 

"Anytime sir, bye snowflake." He says.

"Bye Pete." I hear him hang up and I offer the phone back to Mr. Stark.

"You wanna get changed into another outfit first? Then we can do something else." I nod, and he stands up with me still in his arms. I grab his shirt on instinct. I know he's strong but I'm afraid of falling. He grins, holding on tighter and going down the hallway, presumably to his bedroom. 

We walk in and he heads straight to the wardrobe, opening a few drawers and pulling things out. We go back to the bed and he lets me down, laying out a few pieces of clothing. Three shirts and two pairs of pants. A black henley, a gray sweater, and plain white shirt, with a pair of black leggings and a pair of gray sweats. 

"Go ahead and choose baby." He gestures to the clothes. 

I decide on the gray sweater and the leggings, placing them in my lap and picking up the other items, stacking them and giving them to Mr. Stark. "Thank you." I tell him.

"That was so nice of you baby. What a good girl, so polite." He praises.

I can't hid the red blush that creeps onto my face, but I try my best to cover it up with the sweater I was given. It doesn't work.

He puts the clothes back in their previous drawers and comes back to the bed, offering his hand. I don't take it. I have a sudden urge to be closer to him and I tug his shirt sleeve. I don't wanna ask but I know what I want. 

"Do you want me to carry you honey?" He offers. 

"You can ask. I promise I won't say no." I can do this. 

"Can I- can you, can you carry me, please?" It comes out fast but I did it. 

"Of course I will, how can I say no to that?" He picks me up fast and tickles my side for a moment and I let out an involuntary squeal and a giggle. 

He lets me down in front of the hall bathroom and I go inside, shutting the door, using the bathroom, and washing my hands before I change. When I slip on the sweater I feel like I was swallowed whole by a cloud. It's soft and just heavy enough to be comforting, and it smells so good. Just like da- just like Mr. Stark. 

I open the door and find him on his phone, focused on typing something out. I approach him and grab his bicep, tugging and slipping my head between his arm and his body. He finishes his message and puts the phone away. 

"Well hi angel, don't you look cozy. You wanna go hang out for a little bit before a nap?" He smiles, rocking me from side to side in his hold. A nap sounds good right now. 

We go back towards his room to the door next to it, and it's a light blue room with a bed on one wall and a stuffed bear on top of the covers. In the opposite corner sits a cushy rocking chair. 

He takes me to the chair and he sits, picking me up and letting me face his chest. He hums along to the music, rocking back and forth. The rhythmic humming is making me drowsier by the second but I can't seem to fully fall asleep just yet. We keep rocking and he finally starts singing softly. The rumbling of his chest and his pretty, steady voice are enough to lull me to sleep. 

"And when at last I find you  
Your song will fill the air  
Sing it loud so I can hear you  
Make it easy to be near you  
For the things you do endear you to me  
Oh, you know, I will"

"Have a good nap baby, daddy loves you, okay?"


	3. Chapter 3

Maybe she'll be little when she wakes up. I hope she will be. She was so close when I put her down for a nap. 

I'm scared for her. I don't want her to be worried but littles should not have to fight themselves to get into little space, even if they've never done it before. The fact that her body is fighting falling into little space means she could get sick soon. Littles who don't fall within twelve hours of meeting their caregiver risk a serious stress induced sickness, so if we don't get her to fall by dinner I'll need to call Bruce. She's going to wake up sick and miserable tomorrow if I don't. 

I cross my fingers before I head back to the living room where I left her to nap on the sofa. I sit by her head, readjusting her slowly so she doesn't wake up, and place her head in my lap. She's curled up under a Spider-Man blanket Peter gave me last week when I got the message I would be matched this year. I had asked to be taken out of the pool of caregivers years ago when everything around the Avengers started ramping up, and just last year remembered to ask to be put back in. He had promised to be my littles best friend; ironic how that worked out.

I play with her hair (another trigger I had noticed) in hopes of pulling her out of sleep and into headspace. Her pretty eyelashes flutter on her cheeks as she burrows into my shirt, resting against my abs. She melts my heart, the tiny thing is so naturally little but she has no idea. She leans back, returning her head to rest on my thighs while she shakes off her drowsiness. I reach up to push her hair out of her face and her hands pop out of her blanket cocoon and rest against mine. She plays with my right hand, her tiny digits paling in comparison to mine. She doesn't speak, just watches my hand silently through half hooded eyes. She's such a placid girl. 

"Good afternoon, sweet girl. How was your nap?" I ask, testing the waters. 

"Good. Not tired anymore." Her voice is softer, quieter, timid. 

"That's good. Do you want to play?" She shakes her head, opening her mouth before it closes again quickly. "Do you want to say something?"

She ponders, her facial expressions much more pronounced than before her nap. I'd say if she's not in little space she's at least really close.

"Just wanna hear you talk." She admits, blushing and using my hand to cover her face. 

"What about, angel?" Again, she thinks for a moment, eyebrows scrunched together adorably.

"Your friends?" She suggests.

"Of course. How about the ones who live in the tower?" She nods, bending my thumb in and out mindlessly. 

"Well, there's five of us right now. Everybody else just comes and goes sometimes. We live on the top floor, and then it's Bruce, then Steve, Bucky, and Thor, who's home on earth for a while. You can call them whatever you want." She nods along a few times, moving on to playing with the hem of my shirt, spacing out.

Okay, definitely in her headspace. Big Via wouldn't love this closeness, big Via tenses up and gets frustrated. Right now, Via is calm and curious, adorably clingy and so, so precious. Of course Via out of headspace is precious too, but these two sides of her are so opposite. To have waited so long for a little and to finally have one feels so surreal. She's so perfect. So herself.

"Daddy?" It's so quiet I almost miss it. The murmur comes again, tickling my palm with the whisper of air against it. "Daddy?" 

"Yeah baby? What's up sweetheart?" She's so adorable. 

"Hi." She greets, dropping my hand and reaching up towards me.

"Hi my sweet girl. What a pretty, smart baby daddy has. Wanna come cuddle?" She nods, cracking a smile. 

I pick her up, letting her sit sideways on my lap. She sits straight, drops her hands to sit in her lap, and looks up at me. I rub her back, hoping to relax her more. She leans into me, tucking her face into my neck. 

She really is a shy little. I don't know if it's because we just met, but even big, Via is super pensive and shy. I know she isn't a really small little, she's vocalizing and she understands and reacts to me. She's just not very outgoing yet. 

Maybe we matched because of my age. Maybe the algorithm assumed because I wasn't 18 like every other caregiver I couldn't handle an intense little. It doesn't matter anyway, Via is such a precious soul, I know she and I will be just fine. She'll adjust amazingly, and even if she doesn't, Bruce is always around to help.

"Do you want to help daddy cook dinner? Maybe we can invite daddy's friends and you can meet them, what do you think baby?" I propose, hoping some other caregiver energy will make her feel more open to being little. 

"Wanna do it. Sounds fun." She murmurs and I kiss her cheek, picking her up and heading to the kitchen. 

I let her sit on the island and open up the fridge, scanning for things we could make. I see a few options and close the fridge for now. 

"What should we make? Spaghetti or sandwiches?" I ask her. 

"Sandwiches please! Daddy can I have, um, no nev-mind." She stops herself mid-thought. 

"No, no, Via. What do you want to say? Don't be afraid to ask questions, it's daddy's job to answer them." I pick her up again and take her onto my hip and we bounce around the island. She relaxes after two laps around the kitchen. 

"Just wonderin if I could have, um, if I could have some lettuce with my food later." 

"A salad? Sure baby, but daddy might have to feed you a salad, they're kind of messy." She shakes her head.

"No salad. Just lettuce. I like it." She plays with her fingers and pulls away from me. 

"Oh, of course you can. Don't be embarrassed, daddy just didn't expect you to ask for vegetables because you liked them. You're a special little lady." I tickle her side with my free hand and set her back down on the counter. 

"FRIDAY, can you invite everyone to dinner and tell them it'll be ready in twenty minutes?" I ask.

"Yes, Mr. Stark." She responds.

Via stares at me. 

"That's cool." She smiles.

"Thank you, daddy thinks so too." She smiles, shifting her sock covered feet to become crossed on the counter, softly rocking back and forth. 

I turn around and take out everything I need for dinner, plus Via's lettuce of course. I never thought I would meet little who asks for vegetables. She's a trip. 

I'm just finishing up putting away everything I got out for the sandwiches after assembling them when Via taps my shoulder softly. 

"May I please ask FRIDAY something?" She requests. 

"Of course babygirl. Good manners, go ahead." She nods.

"Thank you. FRIDAY can you please play I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles?" She grins and I chuckle too. 

FRIDAY complies, playing the song. I offer my arms to Via.

"Do you want to dance?" Her face lights up and she happily shakes her head yes. 

I take her off the counter and she wraps her arms around my torso, snuggling into the fold between my bicep and my chest. I sway her softly, brushing the hair out of her face and playing with it. 

The song ends just as the elevator dings.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve is alone when he makes his way into the kitchen carrying a blue gift bag. He waves to me, eyes quickly shifting to land on Via, still tucked into my chest. 

"Hey Tony, how are you?" He asks, gesturing to the girl whose face is glued to my shirt at the moment. 

"Doing great. We're still adjusting, right Via?" I ask pointedly, hoping she'll come out of her hiding spot. She backs out enough to nod up at me and carefully turns to meet Steve's gaze.

"Hi darling, how are you?" He asks, waving. 

She waves back. "Good." She manages.

"Why don't we go sit down on the sofa?" I suggest. Via turns around and reaches for my hand before following Steve out of the doorway. 

He catches it and smirks at me. 

"Already whipped?" He whispers and laughs.

"Maybe." We sit down on the couch, Via climbing into the corner, facing Steve, leaning against my side. 

Steve smiles at her, offering his hand. She takes it with both of her hands and shakes it. 

"Hi Via, my name's Steve. Nice to meet you sweetheart!" He introduces himself. 

"Hi. I like your hair." Via leans further into me and I reach around her to hold her hand and rub my thumb over the back of it. 

"Thank you, aren't you the most polite little girl!" He praises, going to grab the gift bag from the floor. "I got you a welcome present, I hope your daddy doesn't mind." He looks to me for approval and I nod, so he hands her the bag.

She stares at it for a moment, looking back at me. 

"Go ahead baby. It's okay." I tell her.

She delicately takes the paper out, careful not to rip it, reaches into the bag, and takes out a red, white, and blue tie dye sweatshirt and pulls it close to her face. I'm about to open my mouth to tell her to thank him when she beats me to it.

"Thank you! 's really soft!" She tells him. 

"Of course Via, welcome home." Steve grins at her as she continues to run her hands over the sweatshirt. 

The elevator dings and out comes Bruce, Bucky, and Thor. They make their way into the room, slowly approaching the sofa and sitting on the ottoman opposite us. Via watches them come in but goes back to feeling her new jacket when they sit down. She turns to bury her side into mine. 

"Hey baby, can you meet some of daddy's friends? They want to say hi, okay?" I pat her back as she releases the grip she has on the sweatshirt and looks around. Bucky grins kindly at her, waving with his metal hand without realizing. He moves to put it away but she doesn't react to it. 

She doesn't seem at all put off, more fascinated. She waves back. Thor reaches up to adjust his hair and her eyes dart to the movement. 

"Hi Via, nice to meet you." She nods her head and gives him a shy smile back. 

Bruce reaches out a hand, palm up, and Via gives him hers, trembling slightly. 

"Hi, how are you today Via?" Bruce asks.

"Good, thank you. Um, how are you?" She asks.

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking." He grins, sending me a look and gesturing to the kitchen with his head. I get the hint. 

"Okay, I'll go get the food, Via can you stay here for just a minute please?" I request, and she looks hesitant but doesn't argue. 

"I'll come with you, I can get the other plates." Bruce suggests.

We make it into the kitchen and Bruce sighs, leaning on the counter. 

"So what's the deal?" He asks.

"She's complicated. She had absolutely no idea she was a little until her test and she's had no adults to guide her through classification. I thought she wouldn't fall and I would have to get her through headspace withdrawal. She's hard to get into headspace, and I'm scared it'll get her sick sooner or later." Bruce crosses his arms, thinking.

"How old is she?" He asks.

"Eighteen." I respond. His eyes widen.

"She's so young, Tony. It's unusual to see detachment from headspace so early, but you said she didn't have any adult influence, which would make sense. She didn't have anyone to care for her so she couldn't fall. She's just unusual." He concludes. 

"Her headspace is too. I thought she would be smaller when she walked in here. She's just so little and meek." I tell him, starting to pick up the plates.

"I wouldn't worry, if she has any more trouble getting in or out of headspace you know where to find me." He picks up some plates and we head back into the living room to find the cutest sight I've seen in a long time.

Via has moved onto the floor and is sitting between Bucky and Thor's legs in front of Steve. Bucky is holding his metal arm out towards her and she's giggling and letting him touch her forehead. 

" 's cold!" She smiles, reaching up to take it off her face and hold it. 

Bucky is grinning widely. Usually littles are super scared of him and his arm and don't want to play at all. Via, on the other hand, seems to think he's the coolest person ever. It's adorable to watch her melt his heart. 

"Food's here." I announce, handing Bucky and Steve a plate. I keep Via's and Bruce hands me mine. 

Setting her food down on the couch, I reach down to pick her up but she shakes her head. 

"Can I stay here?" She asks. 

"That's fine, just be careful okay?" She nods, and slowly starts to eat once she sees everyone else eating. 

Her eyes wander the room, taking in everyone around her. I'm glad to see her familiarizing with the space. It means she's getting more comfortable. 

Thor, Bucky, and Steve are talking about a new show Thor found since he came back to earth, and Bruce is doing the same thing I am: observing Via. 

Bruce tries making conversation. 

"Hey, Via, what's your favorite color?" 

She puzzles over the question for a moment. 

"I think blue, but I think red too." She decides.Hi 

"Oh?" He grins at her. "Why red too?" 

Her cheeks turn pink and she doesn't answer for a moment.

"Cause daddy's color is red." 

Oh my god, she's so perfect. 

"Oh you're the cutest, come here sweetheart." I pick her up, swinging her onto my lap and cuddling her close. 

I keep rocking her as Bruce and I turn our attention to the conversation about classification going on with Steve, Bucky, and Thor. They're reminiscing about finding out everyone's classifications.

"I feel like you made the most sense, Tony. Natasha, on the other hand, still baffles me." Thor laughs. 

"I have to say, I didn't expect Peter to be a caregiver. I don't know, maybe it's because he's so young." Bucky adds.

Via tenses in my lap at the mention of her best friend. She shakes her head, sitting up straighter but quickly returning to lean against my chest. She shifts around a few times before sliding off of my lap and standing up.

"Where are you headed baby?" I ask.

"Just going to the bathroom." She murmurs, tucking her hair behind her ear and shuffling awkwardly down the hallway.


	5. Chapter 5

She's not in headspace anymore.

Everyone stopped talking when she left the room, exchanging confused glances until she's out of earshot.

"She's out." Steve concludes. 

"What was that? Two hours? Tony, is she okay?" Thor asks, confused. 

"It was her first time in headspace, so I think she's fine. She'll go deeper next time, it's all just so new right now." I know new littles aren't easy, but it looks like Via's really going to struggle for some time. 

"Should we mention it or let her bring it up?" Steve asks.

"Bruce?" I have no idea how to handle this.

"I would let her tell you, I don't want her to feel like we're calling her out. It never hurts to encourage her being little subtly, though." He says as we drop the subject and start talking about other things.

I'm about to get up and see if she's okay when she rounds the corner and comes to sit beside me on her heels. She's spaced out but very clearly big, but doesn't hesitate to lean into my side, taking my left hand and playing with it. 

"Hi baby, are you okay?" I ask, turning my hand upwards to see if she'll hold it. She does.

She taps my shoulder, sitting up straighter.

"I'm not little." She mumbles in my ear.

"I know. How do you feel?" She shrugs, thinking.

"Weird. I don't know exactly how to describe it." She blinks, her head shaking side to side as if she's trying to wake up. "Did- Do they know I'm not, you know?" She asks. 

"I think so, but they want to meet you when you're big too, honey. Why don't you go talk to them?" I suggest, hoping if she's in conversation she won't focus on how she's feeling. I'd like to avoid sub drop if I can, and I have a scary suspicion that's what this could turn into.

"Will you come with me?" She requests, a coral blush dusting her cheeks. 

"Of course I will, you go pick a spot and I'll be right behind you after I put away the plates. You got this baby." I encourage. 

She shyly gets up and watches me pick up the plates before she follows me out of the space between the couch and the ottoman, turning to loop back around to the group on the other side of the room. Bruce moves closer to the group and sits beside Steve on the couch. 

When I come back from the kitchen Via hasn't moved. She awkwardly shifts, glancing between the door and the group every few seconds, and when she sees me she tentatively goes to pick a spot, sitting on the ground between Steve and Bucky.

"Make the old man get down on the floor, sure baby." I grin. 

"Oh, if you want we can-" 

"I'm just messing with you, I'm not that old yet." I cut her off, taking a seat behind her on the carpet, letting her sit between my legs. "Do you want to introduce yourself or should I?" I offer.

She nods, playing with her hands nervously. 

"Okay sweetheart, but you have to answer their questions. That okay?" She nods again. "Alright, this is Via. She's eighteen and she's from Queens. She's Peter's best friend." 

"I'm from Brooklyn." Steve offers. "Nice to add another New York kid to the group." 

Via's face lights up at the mention of Brooklyn. 

"Do you like to go to Prospect Park? Peter and Ned and I used to go there all the time on weekends." She asks. 

"I do. I used to do the same thing when I was younger. Maybe Peter and I can take you there sometime." He offers and she smiles in agreement. 

"What else do you like to do?" Bucky coaxes. 

"I like writing, and I like acting." She answers, tucking hair behind her ear right ear. 

"My creative girl." I compliment, leaning over to kiss her cheek. Her face turns a pretty shade of pink when I do, and she relaxes into my embrace. 

"Perhaps we will see you preform soon." Thor interjects. 

"I would love that. The only people who used to come to my shows were Peter and Ned." She smiles before letting out the prettiest giggle I've ever heard. "He wasn't happy about me being in 'Rent'." 

"Why's that?" I ask. Peter never did strike me as the paternal type, but the kid is strong willed about the stuff he believes in. 

"I played Mimi." She admits, still softly smiling at the memory. "He didn't love the costume." 

"I wouldn't have either." I tell her, smiling so she knows I'm not mad. 

Bruce snorts, and Steve, Bucky, and Thor look lost. "Mimi's, well, a dancer of sorts, if you catch my drift." He explains and their eyes widen. 

"Oh my word, Via. You better just be a really good actress." Steve says, giving her a pointed look and a smile. 

"I hope so." She bashfully smiles back. "Peter's favorite part I did was Belle. Said I fit being a princess cause I was one." She laughs before quickly dropping and recovering with a smile.

"How did we not know the kid was a caregiver?" Bruce questions. 

"No idea how we missed that. Is Belle your favorite princess?" Bucky asks Via softly.

"Yeah, I like her. She's cool." She responds, blinking. "She has a pretty dress." She adds, curling further into my chest. 

"Do you want to watch her movie?" Bucky asks her, making knowing eye contact with the group, gaining subtle nods from us all. 

She blinks a few more times, shifting around in my arms. 

"You want to watch Belle, honey?" I ask her softly. 

"Yeah. Thank you." She agrees softly. 

"FRIDAY, can you play Beauty and the Beast, please?" I ask, getting up off of the floor while I keep a hand on Via's head so she doesn't get scared of me leaving. 

Bucky and Thor move to the couch, leaving a space between them and Steve and Bruce for us to sit. Via gets up on her own shakily, tripping over her own foot on her way to sit down. He squeals and Steve catches her quickly and pulls her into his lap before she can fall. 

"Careful, Via. You okay darling?" He asks, giving her a hug. She nods, recovering from getting shaken up. "Let's go back you your daddy, okay?"

"Okay." She agrees, giving Steve a quick hug and reaching for me. 

I settle us into the couch and put her in my lap as the movie starts. She stops blinking and relaxes while she watches the opening scene, grinning when she feels my beard against her forehead. Her head tucks into my neck as she reaches for my hands to fidget with. I hold her hands, running my thumbs across her palms. 

I watch her eyes shine, engaged in the plot of the movie. After a while, she turns around in my arms and hugs my torso, just listening to the music. She's asleep by Be Our Guest. Bruce notices she's asleep and waits a minute before he turns off the movie, which makes the whole room stare at Via and I. 

"What a girl." Bucky comments with a small smile. "She's something else." 

"Wouldn't I know. She had no idea she was little and barely talked to me when we met, but isn't it obvious?" I ponder. "She's just not like other littles. I don't exactly know what that means yet." 

"Adjusting might hit her hard. Good call on the movie, Buck. I thought for sure she would drop." I admit, staring at her face, so calm.

"She was fighting slipping for that whole conversation. I figured that was an easy distraction. Better to slip now than drop later because she couldn't." He explains.

"Thank you guys for your help, seriously." Helping Via get the hang of being little doesn't look like it'll be an easy task, but I'm ready for it. I've waited so long. 

"It's no problem. Having a little around will be great, and it's funny to see you act so soft around her." Bruce smiles at Via as she shifts slightly. 

"I do not." 

"I think she's good for you." Steve nods. 

"Hopefully." Thor quips.

"Listen point break, I'll send you packing to your sky island." I joke back and the team laughs.

Via stirs again in my lap, drowsily blinking her eyes as she wakes up. I run my hand along her back in hopes that she'll close her eyes again but she just leans into me chest and puts her head on my shoulder. 

"We should send ourselves back to our floors so this one can get to sleep." Bucky suggests, waving at Via, who turned her head to look at him. 

Everyone gets up from the couch and I walk them to the elevator, bouncing along the way to keep Via awake long enough to say goodnight. 

"Daddy," She whispers in my ear. "Down please?" 

I comply, and she stands beside me for a moment. 

"Go ahead and goodnight to everyone?" I coax, hoping for a wave but I'm shocked at what she does. 

She walks up and hugs Steve, standing on her toes. "G'night Mr. Steve." She murmurs, and she repeats the same thing for everyone, a hug and a goodnight on her toes. My god she's precious. 

When she's done saying her goodnights, she comes back to me and wraps herself around my left bicep as the guys get in the elevator. She waves goodbye silently and I pick her up and head to her bedroom down the hall.

"Good job saying goodnight baby!" I praise. "You gave everyone such good hugs." 

"They're really nice." She smiles sleepily when I set her down on her bed. 

"They are, baby. Can you stay awake for a minute so I can give you some pajamas?" I ask, helping her sit up before going to her closet. 

I pick out some patterned harem pants and a long sleeve top for her, taking them back to the bed. 

"Hey baby, come on, let's get up and go get ready for bed." I offer her my hand and she takes it. We go down the hallway to the bathroom. "Here's your toothbrush and some pajamas baby. Do you want to get ready on your own or do you want daddy's help?" I offer.

"I be okay." She says. 

I stuck around and brush my teeth with her so I can keep an eye on her for now, and make sure she flosses too. I realize I forgot socks, so I go to get her a pair and by the time I'm back the door is closed. I wait for her to come out, and now her hair is tied up and she's changed into her pants but kept the sweater on. 

"Ready for bed, sweet girl?" I ask, offering her my hand. 

"Need to go to my bag." She says, taking me to the kitchen where her little backpack is set on the table. She reaches in and grabs a glasses case, taking my hand and leading me back to the hall bathroom. 

She takes out her contacts and slips on her glasses, making me smile at how cute she looks. We go back to her room and sit down on her bed, and she looks longingly at the rocking chair in the corner. 

"Want to rock before bed honey?" I ask her and receive an enthusiastic nod yes. 

I sit down on the chair, Via in my lap and start rocking. We rock peacefully in the dim light as she gets drowsier and drowsier. 

"Daddy, sing please?" She requests quietly and I oblige. 

"Of course baby. We've done The Beatles today, let's mix it up." I propose as she snuggles further into my chest and closes her eyes. 

"Isn't she lovely,"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update since I’ve been at home 24/7 during this crazy time. Hope you’re all doing alright!

The unnecessarily bright sun comes through the curtains I forgot to close last night, getting me up for the morning. I'm not woken up by FRIDAY on Via's behalf, so I roll out of bed and head down the hallway to her room to get her up. 

I push the door open slowly and see her curled up on her side near the wall, cuddling the stuffed bear I placed on her bed yesterday morning when I was getting ready for her to come over. She's still asleep. I sit down on the bed facing her, watching her for a moment, not ready to disturb her peace. Her hair is disheveled and pieces are slipping out of her scrunchie as she moves slightly with the rising and falling of her chest. 

I let her sleep for a few more minutes before deciding she won't nap if I don't wake her up. I reach to brush her hair out of her face, running my hands along her face and cupping her cheek. I tap her face lightly and she stirs.

"Hey sweet girl, it's time to get up." I whisper.

She wriggled around underneath my hand for a moment before opening her eyes. Her gaze lands on me, face flushing slightly as she hides behind her bear. 

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" I ask, still rubbing her cheek with the pad of my thumb. 

"Slept good." She mumbles, leaning into my hand. 

"It's time to get up, okay?" She nods, setting aside her bear and moving closer to me on the bed, reaching out her hands half heartedly. My chest feels heavy with pride. "Okay, daddy can carry you." 

I pick her up, standing and placing her on my hip before heading over to the closet. 

"What should we wear today?" I ask, sifting through the hangers. She taps my bicep when I reach a pair of navy blue cotton overalls. "Very cool, baby. What shirt are we thinking?"

She shrugs, leaning into me and playing with a thread on the collar of my shirt. I decide to pick one for her, opting for a dusty pink shirt and some matching socks. I walk over to her bed, laying out the outfit for her and walking out of her room. 

"Why don't you go potty while daddy gets changed for the day? When you're done you can go put on the pretty outfit you picked. Do you think you can do that?" I question, setting her down at the door of the bathroom. She nods, shaking out a few more loose pieces of hair from her scrunchie. 

I make quick work of changing into jeans and a plain shirt, walking back to Via's room to find the door closed. She emerges moments later in her outfit, looking as precious as ever, somehow smaller than yesterday. She pushes up her glasses on the way over to me, taking my hand. I lead her to the living room, sitting on the couch. She sits beside me, curled tightly in on herself and into my side. 

"Are you okay baby?" I ask her as she fiddles with my sleeve. 

"Feel tiny." She says, not outwardly upset.

"That's okay sweet girl, are you scared?" I question her to be sure.

"No. Not scared. Feels nice." She softly smiles, her voice light.

"I'm glad." I tell her, wrapping my left arm around her back.

We sit silently for a few minutes, her playing with my sleeve, eyebrows twitching with unspoken thoughts. She leans on my shoulder and settles, dropping my hand into my lap.

"Daddy?" She asks. "Will you do my hair?" 

I chuckle at her abruptness, a wonderful sign of her deeper headspace. I nod, picking her up and moving her delicately to the floor. 

"So what should we do today?" I wonder as I take out her scrunchie and rake my hands through her hair softly to tame it. 

She closes her eyes, shrugging. I keep playing with her hair and proposing ideas. "What about blocks, or dolls, or maybe coloring?" 

She happily nods as I propose coloring, finishing the loose braid and tying it off with the scrunchie. I pick her up and take her to the kitchen, setting her down on the counter like I had last night, and open the fridge, looking for food I can give her that isn't going to make her crash in an hour. I decide I can sneak some nutrition into a smoothie, take some things out of the fridge, and get the blender out of the cabinet. 

I set everything on the counter a little away from Via, who is happily sitting still swaying to the beat of music she's humming super softly. I throw some fruit and a banana in, sticking spinach and protein powder in quickly while she looks away. I put in a splash of water and hit the button to blend it. Via jumps at the noise and reaches for me, knocked out of her trance. 

"I'm sorry love, I forgot to warn you." I apologize, turning off the blender before giving her a hug. She hangs on for a minute, gripping my shirt in her hands until she's calm. 

She reluctantly lets go and I pick out a red plastic cup with stars and a regular glass and pour the smoothie into them, taking them to the table. I come back for Via and sit us both down in a kitchen chair with her in my lap. We drink silently, her holding tightly to her cup with both hands and me using one hand to trace letters into her back. She finishes her drink and hops off my lap before I can hold her back, setting her cup in the sink on her own. She waits for me as I do the same. 

"Good girl baby. Thank you for cleaning up!" I praise as she smiles. 

On our way to the living room I grab the coloring supplies from the cabinet, and set them down on the ottoman. Via chooses to sit on the floor and I join her. 

"Alright, what do you want to draw on?" I offer her a few notebooks, a Disney, an animal, and a blank sketchbook. She gingerly takes the blank one, murmuring a quiet thank you.

"Of course babe, good choice, and what should we color with?" I give her a pack of crayons, a pack of colored pencils, and a pencil. She picks the colored pencils out. 

She tears out a page of the notebook and holds it out to me in a jerky motion. 

"So you can color too." She volunteers. 

"Well thank you." I tell her, watching her dive into whatever she's sketching, laser focused. 

She scrunches up her nose from time to time when she focuses, eyes shining with ideas. In between glances, I haphazardly sketch a few flowers and some vines, but mostly I watch her. Her left arm is up on the ottoman, guarding me from seeing what she's creating just yet. 

"Daddy?" She asks as she suddenly looks up at me. 

"Yes, baby?" I respond, and she just looks down at her paper and goes to pick up another colored pencil.

A second later, she picks up a red colored pencil and by the way her hand moved I can tell she draws a heart. She sits up and moved her left arm, unblocking the drawing as she picks it up and scoots over to hand it to me. 

It's a simple cartoon sketch of me in the outfit I'm wearing today, red and yellow dots scattered around the paper. Signed in the bottom corner in purple next to the heart is her name. 

"Oh my! This is so amazing, I think I have to hang it up so everyone who comes to visit can see what great work my little artist does." I compliment, setting the drawing down and taking Via into my arms, jokingly bouncing her. 

Her melodious giggle sounds, the most amazing noise in the world. She throws her arms around my neck and keeps smiling, eyes looking over my doodling. 

"So pretty." She comments. 

"No you are." I retort and her face heats, blushing a rose color akin to the shirt she's wearing. "Beautiful girl. You want to draw some more or should we do something else?" 

"Will you draw on me? Wanna have a flower." She requests. 

"No baby, I'm sorry. I don't think you should have that ink on your skin, plus you're too little for it. That's something for big girls." I tell her. 

She gasps, shaking her head immediately, eyes wide as she tries to get out of my lap. I keep her there, confused at her sudden outburst. 

"Baby, it's okay. Come on, what's wrong?" I try to angle her to face me but she keeps fighting. When she briefly turns towards me I see panic in her eyes, eyebrows knotted together in silent anxiety. "Honey, please. What happened?"

She doesn't stop moving to get away from me, only quietly and breathlessly explaining herself. 

"Not big. Not big. I'm sorry. I don't want to be big. I'm not." She rambles, her thrashing slowing down. 

"Baby, stop. Stop, Via." I softly order, her movements halting at my unintentionally serious tone. 

Her eyes shine with unshed tears when she looks back at me, shrinking in on herself. Carefully, I bring her into my chest, rubbing her back and holding her hand. 

"Daddy's not mad at you. Why would I be mad?" She shivers, a whine coming from the back of her throat before she answers. 

"Momma and dad left me alone cause I was sposed to be big enough. Didn't tell anyone. Sorry I wanted to be big." She apologizes, choking on a cry. 

"Oh, my sweet girl. Daddy didn't mean that. I'm not leaving you alone no matter what. I don't care if you're big or tiny, you won't get rid of me." I promise, clutching her tightly as her cries shake her whole body. 

"Please don't go. I'm not big. I'm not. I'm little." She begs, eyes bloodshot as she stares at me.

"I know you're little baby. I know. I believe you. I promise." I tell her, guiding her head into the crook of my neck. She seems to like sitting this way.

"Not a big girl." She whispers, running out of steam.

"Not a big girl." I agree. "My little baby. Daddy won't leave you. I'll be right here." 

She breathes shakily for a few more minutes before it evens out and she dozes off into my neck. We'll call it her morning nap.


	7. Chapter 7

"FRIDAY," I whisper, "ask Bruce to run a background check on Via, and let me know what he finds." 

I decide to sit with Via until the results come back. Her red face is still present, barely visible tear tracks drying up. A small frown graces her lips in her sleep. As carefully as I can, I get up off the floor with her in my arms and put her on my hip so we can walk. In her sleep, she wraps he arms around my neck and holds on tight as I walk around the floor, swaying and rocking. 

A few minutes go by slowly and my watch beeps, so I pull up the video call of Bruce. He looks at Via, taking in her appearance questionably. I go to the couch to sit.

"Hey," I talk quietly, "thanks for the help."

"No problem. What happened?" He asks, looking concerned.

"I said something that set her off and she had a panic attack. I don't exactly understand, but something about her parents and how she doesn't want to be big because I'll leave her alone." I explain, tracing circles on her back.

"Well that makes some sense." He says, taking out a tablet and pulling up what looks like bank statements first. "In 2017, her parents Andrew and Rachel James, a software developer and a divorce attorney, bought a penthouse apartment in Manhattan while still owning an apartment in Queens." 

"Where Via lives." I realize. "She's been living alone in New York for three years."

"It looks like it." He sighs. "Her parents used to deposit money monthly for her into her bank account. I looked into her phone and she doesn't have either of her parents numbers saved, matter of fact she pretty much only has Peter and Ned. No other family."

"Jesus." I mumble, staring at the girl in my arms who has been through so much. 

"I called movers and I texted Peter to go pick up some stuff from her apartment, I figured you would want her here from now on." He offers, turning off the tablet.

"Thank you so much. I guess we have a lot to talk about when she's big. Would you mind sending me those files?" I ask.

"Already done." He mock salutes. 

"I think I can finally get back into the lab tomorrow." I tell him. "Peter and Via have to go back to school for their senior finals this week, and I think I can swing Bucky or Steve watching her tomorrow until I know she's fine on her own." 

"That would be good. I think she would like that." He says, studying her face. It's so much more peaceful when she's asleep. "She really likes Bucky." He grins.

"Isn't it cute? I think she confuses him." I add. 

"His face right after you left to get the food was priceless." He laughs. "She got off the couch and sat next to him which weirded him out enough as it is, then she reached out for his hand and his face literally lit up. Kid's something special for sure." 

"Don't have to tell me twice." I chuckle. "I'll look through those files, you're a lifesaver for getting them. See you in the lab tomorrow, big guy." 

"Alright Tony. Give the little one my well wishes." He waves and the video closes.

I'm left in silence once again to ponder what I know about the tiny girl in my lap. The sweetest girl in the world, innately helpful and wonderful, plagued with a complex built by years of neglect. An undeserving victim of a crime not prosecuted. Not unlike me in a spookily similar fashion. Fate is a funny thing. 

Via's eyes twitch for a minute before slowly opening, blinking to adjust to the now early afternoon son. Her eyes come up to meet mine, wide, glassy, and still slightly red from earlier. I give her a welcoming smile as she rubs her eyes.

"Afternoon, baby. Are you feeling better?" I tread lightly. 

"Yeah." Is all she says, fiddling with my sleeves. 

"We have a little time before someone comes over to visit, so why don't we play for a little?" I suggest. 

She shakes her head yes silently, engrossed in playing with the end of my sleeve. 

"Why don't you pick something out from the chest while I get you some water?" I coach, turning her slightly so she sees the wicker basket of toys on the far wall. 

She gets up hesitantly, and I wait for her to sit down beside the basket before I get up to get her water. I pick out a purple sippy cup for her, throwing in a few ice cubes, and head back to the living room. Via has chosen two small cars, purple and red, and is quietly rolling them back and forth peacefully. I take a seat across from her and she shifts her attention to me, meekly rolling the red car in my direction.

"Here, I'll trade you. Have some water, it matches your car!" I encourage, handing her the sippy cup. 

Her genuine grin is a beautiful sight. With one hand, she tentatively sips out of her cup, and with the other she keeps pushing her car around slowly. I join her, following her movements for a minute or two until she suddenly turns and pushes her car the other way. 

"Oh! Where are we going?" I ask her energetically. 

Sippy cup discarded, she scoots to meet her car and smiles. "We can race!" 

She pushed her car around in random patterns, giggling and smiling when I pretend to desperately try to catch up. She gets lost in the game, a joyful glint in her eye, glazed over with focus on her car.

"Daddy guess what?" She asks, scooting closer to me on the carpet.

"What?" I ask excitedly. 

"Did you know the car can fly?" She smiles, happily lifting the car up. 

She delicately places it on the top of my head, leaving it there. She devolved into a fit of giggles. A sight for sore eyes.

"Oh my word! Where did your car go baby?" I play along. 

"It's on your head daddy!" She keeps giggling.

"Is it now? I don't know if I believe you." I joke, grinning.

She laughs harder, siting on her knees again to retrieve the car. 

"Scuse me." She whispers adorably. "Here it is!"

"Oh, wow! Good job sweet girl." I praise, lifting her into my lap and tickling her sides. She shrieks, playfully moving to get away. 

"No no no!" She giggles, and I let up.

We sit, rocking occasionally and I hum quietly and observe her. A much calmer demeanor than that of earlier today. She must just have episodes sometimes. FRIDAY interrupts the calm atmosphere.

"Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker is here to drop of the things you requested. He's on his way up now." She warns, and on cue the elevator opens.

Peter drops the suitcase in his arms and tentatively walks to where we're sitting. I hadn't warned Peter explicitly of Via's little space, nor did I warn Via of Peter's presence, scared it would knock her out of little space again. I haven't ruled Peter out as a big space trigger, but for both of their sakes I hope he isn't. I'm mentally crossing my fingers as he comes into Via's field of view and sits across from us on the floor. 

"Hi, snowflake." He greets softly, reaching out for her hand. 

She gives it to him, staring wide eyed and not falling out of little space. She just stares for a minute.

"Can I hold her?" He asks me.

"Of course, Parker." I hand her over with no trouble, and she curls easily onto his lap, head resting on his shoulder calmly. The sight is enough for my heart to swell almost painfully.

"Hi Via." He whispers, eyes wide as he observes her face tucked into his collarbone. "What's up with you snowflake?" 

"Hi," She mumbles into his neck, "Missed you." 

He chuckles adoringly, smiling down at her. It's crazy to think that he's known Via for so many years and meeting her again right now. His shell shock is understandable. 

"I missed you too, I know it's the longest we've ever been apart but I'll still see you all the time. I promise." He tells her, both arms wrapped around her back in a sibling like embrace. 

"Good." Via musters, playing with the button on Peter's shirt. "C'n you tell me a spider story?"

He looks at her like it's a question he's heard before, tapping her shoulder blades and nodding. He launches into recounting a story from patrol last week when he saved an old woman from being pickpocketed. He widens his eyes and grins as he tells the story, moving to hold her hand. Via hangs on to every word, unbuttoning and redoing the button of his shirt over and over again with her free hand. She's not great at sitting still. What little is? 

The two of them have the most precious dynamic. Peter is constantly dead set on proving himself around the rest of the Avengers, always hardening his personality and hiding his youth behind a guise of being a mentally well adjusted superhero. Here, in this moment with Via, he's just being Peter. Peter the eighteen year old kid from Queens who has a best friend named Via. They bring out each other's true selves. 

The two sit quietly for a few minutes after the story, just existing with each other peacefully. Peter looks content, curiously staring and getting lost in his own world. Via stares into his neck, her face adorned with a little grin. The two look just about as much like family as it gets. I'm shocked by my own lack of jealously. Via is so calm in his hold. Content and relaxed. So unlike us, but I know this isn't forever. Peter and Via love each other. They've known each other for eighteen years. Bonding takes time.

"Baba Pete?" Via breaks the silence. 

"Oh," Peter reacts, easily shaken from his own world. "You want a bottle? I can do that." He nods, looking towards me. 

"No?" She reacts, vehemently shaking her head.

"No?" Peter asks her confusedly, stroking a stray piece of hair from her face. 

"Baba." She repeats, staring at Peter and tapping his chest. 

"I'm Baba?" He asks incredulously, face turning pink and a massive smile adorning it. 

"Yeah. Baba Pete." She nods, grinning. 

They snuggle for a few minutes until Peter's phone buzzes, and he reaches to answer the call. 

"Hi. I stopped to visit Via on the way. Be up soon!" He says, listening close to the other end of the line and hanging up. 

"Alright snowflake, I've got to go for now. Thanks for cuddling me. Love you, Via." He says his goodbyes and she frowns, not protesting being put in my lap before Peter gets up to head out quickly. 

"Where are you headed so fast, kid?" I ask.

"Well, it's, Clint and Natasha got letters from the classification office this morning and I did too and I'm their sub." He rushes out, hands nervously brushing against his jeans. 

"Oh." Is all I can say. 

"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry I lied, I don't, I know it's not good that I," I cut off his rambling. 

"Peter. Get over here and give me a hug. You're just fine the way you are. Go see your doms, kid." I tell him as he kneels down and gives me a hug. Via holds on an extra second, kissing his cheek.

"C'ngrats!" She tells him, waving as he leaves to go to the elevator. 

These two are going to be the death of this whole tower.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!! Good to be back writing for this story. I took a break for a minute but I’m back full force and ready to write the heck out of it. I am struggling a bit with plot ideas, so drop some suggestions in the comments!! :) Hope you guys are doing alright, times are tough. (PS- imagines book coming soon hopefully!)

Rolling over, I try to find the terrible alarm clock that's making the god awful beeps so I can get five more minutes of sleep before Monday officially begins. I'm unsuccessful.

"I would literally do anything to shut that up." I gross frustratedly with the pillows around my head. 

"Miss, you will have to get out of bed for the noise to stop." The voice of FRIDAY says over the beeping. 

I scoff, rolling out of bed with the blanket wrapped around me. As soon as I get to the closet the god awful screeching is done with. I check my phone, plugged in and sitting on the rocking chair to see it's 6:30. One more week and I can be done with this. Only five more days. 

I blush, thinking about the rocking chair as I sift through the beautiful clothing in the closet for something to wear. It's a new nightly routine to rock before bed to music. Yesterday's playlist was Billy Joel. I pick out ripped black jeans and blindly choose a big flannel that I'm almost positive is Peters, and some slip on ankle boots, making way quickly to the bathroom, getting ready in five minutes. I don't see Tony anywhere, so I quickly fill up my water and pack my bag ready to leave when I see a sticky note taped to the fridge. 

'Via, happy last Monday! Daddy's proud of you! Don't forget your lunch, and Peter's coming down for you at 7. I'll be in my lab with Bruce after you get back, FRIDAY's taking you up to Steve and Bucky. Good luck baby! :)'

My lunch is packed in a cute baby blue bag, and I'm amazed at it. He put so much care into a lunch. I'm not even little at school. He did something for me when I'm big. It's a gesture I can't even begin to process. 

I slide the lunch into my backpack alongside my Little Shop script. I decide to take it out and go over it on the way to school today instead. As soon as I get everything zipped, the elevator dings from the hallway and I rush into it and smile at Peter. 

"Hi snowflake. Big finally?" He grins, arm strewn casually across my shoulders. "You're cute when you're little."

"Morning Pete. So, sub?" I throw back with a smile, blushing. "It should be fun to have less dom energy in the tower. Promise you'll visit?"

"You're not mad I lied to you?" He asks incredulously.

"Peter I couldn't be mad at you if I tried. I would have hidden this little thing for as long as I could string it out if you didn't come see me. I don't blame you." I tell him, leaning into his side.

"Via, I will literally never understand you." He says as the doors open. "Come on, Happy's waiting." 

"Who?" I ask.

"Oh, he's Tony's driver. He's going to take us to school this week." He explains, opening the door to the sleek black car and letting me in first before shutting the door. "Morning Happy, this is Via." He introduces me.

"Hi, Via. I'm Happy. Nice to meet you." He says, waving into the rear view before he starts the car. 

"You too." I smile.

The car devolves into quiet for a moment and I take out the script, turning to a scene I'm still not a hundred percent on in the second act. Peter notices the script, tapping the book to get my attention. 

"Opening night is Friday right?" He asks.

"Yeah, you know the drill. I got you and Ned tickets and if you offer to pay be back I'll literally kill you." I tell him. 

"No, that's not it. But thanks." He grins. "Aren't you going to tell Mr. Stark? He would want to see you!" He says. 

"Not in this show. Plus he's going to get recognized and I don't want him to have to deal with that. Can you tell him we're packing up your apartment Friday night? Please?" I request, pleading. 

"Okay but you're know I'm not a good liar." He agrees reluctantly. 

We pull up and head our separate ways, Peter to advanced chemistry and me to computer programming. 

The day goes by slow like always and I meet Peter and Ned in the hallway before rehearsal. 

"Ned come on, tell her!" Peter begs.

"Tell me what?" I ask, confused, Ned waves and sakes his head.

"I found my little?" He says as a question. "Peter I'm not gonna force her to invite her caregiver to the show." He laughs.

"Oh my god I hate you Pete. Ned, who's your little?" I continue. 

"Her names MJ and she's the cutest person I've ever seen. You guys should play sometime, snowflake." He offers, ruffling my hair. 

"Sounds fun." I blush. "Okay, I gotta go quick before I get cut, bye guys." I wave.

"Happy will pick you up when you're done, text me!" Peter projects down the hallway and I nod, rushing into the auditorium. 

Rehearsal kicked my ass. If Ms. Johnston asked me to go over the scene change after Suddenly Semour one more time I think I might have cried. Not to mention we ran the whole show after that. I just want to go home and study for my programming final and cry and see d- Tony. I texted Peter ten minutes ago so Happy would be here as soon as I was done. I didn't want to make him wait. 

The ride back to the tower is silent after the greeting, and I thank Happy twice before I get out of the car, waving as I get into the elevator. Immediately, I slump against the wall and feel the tears start to try to collect and my head goes fuzzy. I don't have time for this right now. I'm busy and I have to study and look over my script and I just can't have this happen. The elevator starts moving and I breathe deeply trying to chill out.

"Hello Miss James. I'll be taking you to Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes floor at Mr. Starks request." Shit. "Your heart rate is elevated and you appear flushed. My programming tells me I should alert an adult so I will tell them."

"No that's okay-" I try to tell her.

"My programming tells me I should alert an adult of abnormalities." FRIDAY says as the elevator stops and the doors open to an open living room and kitchen with a soft looking brown couch. I would really like to nap on it but I unfortunately have zero time to screw around right now. 

The peaceful moment is interrupted by Steve and Bucky rushing around the corner from the hallway on the right between the kitchen and the couch.

"Hey Via. How was your day?" Steve asks cautiously. 

"Good." I respond awkwardly. "How are you guys?"

"We're fine, and you know that's not what we meant. Come on, sit down for a minute." Bucky invites, offering me his hand. 

"Thank you, but I don't think I can right now,  
I have so much work due." I make an excuse.

Bucky doesn't budge, and I end up on the couch between the two, curled up with my knees to my chest, bag on the ground in front of me.

"Do you want to talk or just sit?" Steve offers, arm draped across the back of the sofa and hand grazing over my shoulder.

"Sit, please." I request in a whisper. "There's too much to talk about." I let out, getting choked up. 

"Oh." Bucky nods, understanding. "Why don't we just decompress for a little and we can eat and then work. You'll work so much easier that way." 

"I can decompress while I read, I promise." My plan was just quickly power through everything and get it done before I calmed down. Keep the brain running then let off the gas all at once. If I lose my focus I lose my motivation.

"Via. Come on. We can just sit for a few minutes, how about that?" Steve suggests. 

"Okay." I agree, exhausted and unwilling to fight a losing battle. I can't get comfortable just listening to their breathing so I shift aground, eyes closed, looking in vane for a position to stay in. 

"Everything okay?" Steve asks curiously, watching me struggling. "What's up honey?"

"So quiet. Makes me think a lot." I respond, realizing I'm feeling little because of the stress of the day. I try to push it away and think about how much I need to do when I get back up. Clear head. Clear head. Not being able to fight all the way through the cotton in my brain just makes me more upset. My eyes water and I blink as fast as I can but some tears escape. 

"Oh, honey. Come here." Bucky frowns as he and Steve hug me. "You're gonna be just fine. We'll play some tunes and you can even be little for dinner. That sound good?"

"I can't." I shake my head and vaguely hear Steve requesting some playlist from FRIDAY. 

Soft music plays, resonating around the room as Steve holds my hand and Bucky rubs my back, humming into my ear. The song fades away and before another starts I take the chance to move out of the hug and reach for my script. I have to read scenes. I don't have time for fluffy cuddly little things right now.

"Woah, hold up. That wasn't even five minutes." Steve admonishes softly as I sit back up. 

"That's okay." I try to reason. "It was a break."

"Via that's not how," He starts, taking my script and putting it back on the coffee table. "Don't you take breaks? Honey, five minutes is barely long enough to get a drink of water." 

"I don't really do breaks." I admit, staring at my fingers. "Well sometimes I talk to Peter and Ned before rehearsal."

"You just don't stop?" Bucky questions, metal arm coming to tuck my hair back as it covers my face from view. 

"I sleep." I tell them. "I don't know how much it matters anyway since I'm fine. I don't need help and I don't need to be little right now. I can't waste my time." 

I didn't realize how sharp that must have sounded until they both stiffen and back away from the embrace I had been in silently. The two share a glance, confusion and slight upset with almost an angry narrow eye. I fucked up.

"Excuse me?" Steve asks, staring me down, and the tears come back full force.

They're too close. They're mad. That was rude. I'm acting too big. I'm too big. I'm too big and they want me to be little but if I'm little I'm useless. It's a lose lose situation. 

In an instant I'm out of my seat and tucked between the wall and the arm chair across from the sofa. I hear their feet pad along the hardwood and realize the wall behind me effectively trapped me in. I feel lightheaded and I see spots, my breathing so shallow I'm not even sure if I'm actually taking any air in. Steve's shoes appear and I don't bother looking up to meet his eyes. I know what they look like. Mad. 

"Ah!" I screech as his hand reaches out towards me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm big."

"Doll I'm not trying to hurt you. Please come out. You're not in trouble." He coaxes and I shake my head.

Yes I am. I should be. 

"Steve, she's way overwhelmed. Too much going on. Let her have a foot." Bucky instructs. 

Do I deserve the space? I don't think I do. I don't like being alone.

"She's about to drop so hard she won't remember her own name. What do we do, Buck?" He rushes out intensely.

"I have an idea." He sighs after a moment of silence. "Via. Listen to me. I need you to look at me. Eyes on me, good. Good job." He coaches.

The undeserved praise muddies my head even more and I can't seem to fight back to the surface. His eyes are calm, inquisitive; brow furrowed in what I might have assumed to be anger if I hadn't looked at his eyes. He's sat back on his heels, hands on his knees. He doesn't look angry. 

"Come out, please?" He asks, voice slow and measured. What do I have to lose? I'm already cornered. "Thank you, doll. Good job."

The silence is heavy for a few moments as I make my way out from behind the chair to sit between the two men again, awaiting their next move. They don't say anything.

"I'm sorry I said that." I blurt out. "Didn't mean to be so mean. I just, I mean I,"

Bucky lays a careful hand on my trembling shoulder, suddenly cold from the come down of the endorphin rush. "You panicked. It's okay."

"It's not. I was so mean and you only wanted to help and I yelled at you." I protest, furiously wiping my own stupid tears. 

"We don't blame you. You almost dropped, that wasn't you." Steve insists, his strong hand resting on my bicep. 

"I'm so sorry." I choke out over the tears just barely fighting to stay below the surface. Impulsively, I collapse, head laid in Steve's lap and exhausted from trying to claw my way out of the haze.

"Oh honey, you're okay." Steve shushes, steady hand running over my hair and playing with the ends. "It's okay, go ahead. Be little. We're going to be here."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did not realize how much of a cliffhanger I left this on, sorry friends! New chapter and hopefully some interesting stuff coming up soon, as always comments and kudos are welcome as well as plot ideas! :))))

Via cried. She cried into Steve's knee, heart wrenching sobs wracking her body as she slipped into little space from the overwhelming situation. Steve and Bucky kept rubbing her back, softly singing along to the music still playing and waiting patiently to intervene so as not to scare her off. Eventually her crying petered off into rogue tears and attempted deep breaths as she keeps her head tucked into Steve's knee. 

"Alright tiny, come on up here." Steve softly invites, picking the little up and placing her on his lap. "How about Buck and I get some food in your tummy and go from there?"

"Okay." She agrees passively, playing with her hands and wiping her face with her fists. Bucky and Steve sigh in relief at her calmed down state and make their way into the kitchen where Steve sets Via down on the counter.

"Wait just a second," Steve stops her as she goes to bring her feet up and cross her legs. "We need to get those big girl shoes off of you first." 

He slips off her boots and places them by the kitchen stools, out of the way. She jumps and shrieks when he tickles her feet, uncontrollably giggling at the feeling. "No no!" She laughs. 

"Oh fine, but just because you're so precious." Steve compliments, leaving her on the counter as he fixes her a sippy cup of water. 

She watches them work together, smiling at each other as Bucky flips the grilled cheeses and Steve quickly slices the celery and gets out the carrots. She likes them a lot, she decides. They remind her of her daddy, and her too. Like Peter. She knows they've been through a lot and it makes her happy that they're still happy. She decides they're safe. In the haze of her little space she doesn't fully process that thought through but it makes sense to her. Steve and Bucky are safe. Like daddy and Peter. 

"Okay, ready for some dinner?" Bucky asks, snapping the girl out of her thoughts as she's picked up and placed in a chair at the circular table between Steve and Bucky. 

"Thank you." She tells them, waiting patiently with her hands in her lap, legs crossed on the chair under her knees as Bucky and Steve get their own plates situated and sit down. 

They eat quietly for a few minutes, the two men exchanging occasional glances and watching the shy little eat her food. Every move Via makes is measured and calm, unlike any other little they have ever met. Usually, littles are bouncing off the walls, emotions going zero to a hundred in a half second and fighting tooth and nail to avoid eating anything that looks remotely like a vegetable during mealtimes. The men, both caregivers, have avoided getting matched because neither of them can handle that based on their lifestyles and their pasts. Hell, they don't even know if they're allowed to be matched at this point. It's an unspoken agreement that that two are planning on being doting uncles for the little for years to come, for little Via and big Via.

"So what should we play with after dinner while we wait for your daddy to come down?" Bucky asks, taking Steve's empty plate and stacking it on his own before making a move to take Via's.

She shrugs and doesn't hand the plate over, rather giving him her hand and carrying the plate to the sink on her own. He smiles at the fiercely independent girl and scoops her up suddenly, hugging her close. He has to stop himself from calling her a big girl, because he knows she didn't like it earlier.

"Look at you, Miss Independent! My favorite little niece." He grins at her as she holds on to his neck tightly and he takes her back to the living room, Steve following.

Bucky sets her down on the carpet while Steve pulls a few toys from the canvas bag Tony dropped off this morning before he went to the lab. They join Via on the ground and Steve lays out the toys for her to choose from.

"What are we thinking?" Steve asks, watching Via's eyes scan the options: alphabet blocks, coloring books, and cars. She decides on the blocks, politely moving the coloring books and the toy cars to the side. "Good choice!" He praises.

She tentatively stacks a few blocks, pushing the bottom one with her finger lightly, and watches her tower crumble. Bucky and Steve grin, joining in by stacking their own block towers. When Via finishes re-stacking her tower, she reads the letters on the side to herself quietly and the two men watch the adorable little. She plucks the top block from her tower and reads the letter louder. 

"C like captain." She stares matter-of-factly to Steve, grinning at her connection.

"That's right! How very smart of you." He compliments, offering a light high five. 

Bucky picks the first letter of Steve's tower up, offering it to Via. 

"Hey, punk." Steve jokes.

"Jerk," Bucky smiles back. "What's that one like?" He asks Via.

"B!" She exclaims happily. "Like, like, Baba!"

"Wow, we've got a genius on our hands!" Bucky praises, lifting the little into his lap and joyfully swinging side to side. She giggles happily, coral blush dusting her cheeks at the compliments. "That's right doll. B like a bottle." 

"No." She protests, shaking her head. "Silly! Baba Bucky!" She smiles, tapping her finger on his chest. "Baba Steve too!" She turns to motion to the blonde. 

"We're cool enough to get names. What an upgrade, Buck. Look at us." Steve smiles, handing Via a few blocks once more as they go back to playing.  
——  
The joyous combination of a giggle and a shriek greets Tony as he steps off of the elevator to pick up Via. He sees her laid on her back in stitches with Bucky and Steve on either side of her, poised to tickle her stomach. 

"Who's your favorite uncle?" Steve teases, gently poking her ribs as she keeps giggling. 

"Can't choose!" She pleads through her fit of laughter. "Both the best!"

"I don't suppose you two softies are torturing my girl?" Tony smirks jokingly at the two, walking over to the girl who is now sat bolt upright at the sound of his voice.

"Hi daddy!" She all but jumps into his arms. 

"Hi baby, daddy missed you." He kisses her head, rocking her side to side. "Can you do me a big favor and go collect your toys and your bag please?" He requests. 

She does as she's told, wandering off to find the canvas bag. Bucky and Steve get up and meet Tony where he stands.

"I got your text." He tells them quietly. "Jesus, I'm so sorry guys." 

"Tony, seriously. It's fine. We know a little bit about emotional distress." He snorts humorously. "She's been fine since she slipped."

"Thank you so much. Via really loves you guys." He tells them earnestly.

"Well I would hope so since we're good enough to have names now." Steve grins, watching the little meticulously put away and organize her things. 

"You don't say?" Tony asks curiously. 

"Baba Steve has a pretty nice ring to it." He claims. 

"I'd say Baba Bucky flows better." Bucky jokes.

"Shut it, jerk." Steve quips.

"So you guys will be there tomorrow?" Tony asks, eyebrows raised as he cocks his head towards the approaching girl. 

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Steve ensures.

Via pads over to the men, backpack on and using two hands to carry her bag of toys, elbows together trying to keep a hold of her shoes too. 

"Here honey, let me hold your toys while you put on your boots." Tony helps, and she passes the bag over and slips on the boots carefully, leaning in Bucky's metal arm casually for help. 

"Bye doll, see you later." Bucky goodbyes, giving her a side hug.

"You can come back and visit with us again soon, bye Via." Steve tells her and gives her a quick goodbye his as well. 

"Bye," Via waves as she attaches herself to her daddy's side and they get in the elevator, headed back to their floor.

"Did you have fun with your uncles, baby?" Tony asks, hoping Via can be verbal after such a hard day. 

She makes a noise of agreement, burrowing impossibly closer to him. He lets her be for now, walking them out of the elevator and dropping off the bags and Via's shoes in the kitchen and by the elevator on their way to her room. It's only eight thirty, but Tony knows after the day she's had it's time to go to sleep. She's practically nodding off against his chest, feet dragging as he makes his way to her closet, picking out a matching set of a tie-dye shirt and sweats and scooping her up into his arms. 

"I know darling, I know. I need you to stay awake long enough to shower. Can you do that?" He asks, nudging the the hall bathroom door open with his shoulder. 

Via doesn't respond, rubbing her eyes and meekly yawning into his shoulder. Tony sighs, bouncing her to no avail. 

"Are we too tired to shower?" He thinks for a moment. "Can daddy bathe you tonight, angel?" 

Via nods and Tony sets her down on the counter so he can turn on the bath. She whines in protest until he returns to stand in front of her and wraps her in a tight hug. 

"I know, I know. I'm so mean." He rocks her, humming the tune to a song he can't remember the name of while the tub fills up. "Okay, let's get you clean so you can sleep, come on." 

Via sleepily but quickly gets ready for the bath and gets in, curling up in the warm water. Tony grabs her scrunchie, a wash cloth, and a big fluffy towel out of the linen closet and kneels on the rug beside the bath tub. 

"Okay, daddy promises he'll be quick so you can go to sleep soon." Tony tells her, running his hands through her hair and gathering it into a ponytail and out of the way. 

Via merely nods at him, moving her hand through the water and watching it ripple. Tony washes her efficiently, she's in and out of the tub and in her pajamas in ten minutes, contacts out and teeth brushed. The pair are back in the rocking chair in Via's room with the lights dimmed for their nightly routine of rocking and music. 

"Goodnight angel, daddy loves you." He whispers to Via as they rock to the soft music, her head tucked away safely in his neck, his arms in a pleasantly tight embrace around her. 

"Love you too daddy." She whispers back.  
——  
Via shoots awake in the middle of the night after a weird and not so great dream about forgetting her lines when she didn't even know what show she was performing in. She's big again. The decorative clock on the far wall reads one thirty-six in the morning. 

Shit. I never did my homework. 

She quietly gets out of bed, praying to whatever diety will listen that FRIDAY doesn't intervene. As quickly and quietly as possible, she creeps to the kitchen and grabs her backpack, hurrying back into the room and shutting the door slowly. Thank god the floors don't creak here or I'd be dead. She takes out her script and her laptop, plugging in her headphones and loading the C++ software for her programming final and the Little Shop cast album so she can multitask. She jumps into the line of code that had been giving her trouble all class today, messing around with it until it finally somehow works itself out. She quietly and subconsciously starts to sing along to the music as she finishes the code and moves on to the next language, Python. 

Tony wakes up to the sound of FRIDAY and roles over to find the clock reads two forty-nine. 

"What, Fri?" He grumbles, rolling over again.

"It appears Via is not going to get her required eight hours of sleep tonight." The AI chirps back. 

"What?" He asks.

"My programming tells me to alert you of abnormalities regarding Via's health. She has been up for over an hour and if this continues she will not be in her best health." FRIDAY responds. 

"So why didn't you tell me earlier?" Tony groans, getting out of bed.

"She has just passed the threshold of being up for one hour, which I determined meant mathematically she would not get enough sleep if she woke up at her normal time." The AI says. 

"I'll fix you later." He mumbles, making his way down the hall to Via's room, unsure of what he's going to find.

He opens the door to be met with a fiercely engrossed Via, singing along to the music in her headphones at a low volume and furiously typing and erasing what appears to be code based on the reflection of her glasses. She doesn't notice his presence until he sits down right beside her on her bed and casually leans into the many pillows behind their heads. 

Via jumps, closing her laptop on instinct and tossing it and her headphones to the foot of the bed. She sits still, deer in the headlights as Tony looks at her. 

"Late night study session?" He questions casually. 

"Look I'm really sorry I just didn't think I was-" She starts to defend herself but cuts herself off instead, admitting defeat and starting to tremble. She shakes when she's nervous. "I didn't mean to be bad I just needed to work and I didn't know what else to do." 

"We're gonna talk punishment tomorrow, for now let's just go back to bed." He resolves, sliding her laptop, headphones, and script back into her backpack and returning to his spot next to her. 

She plays absentmindedly with her bear's arm, staring straight up at the ceiling. 

"I'm really sorry." She whispers into the silence, guilt bleeding into every word.

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. It's my fault I didn't think about balancing big and little time this week." He focuses on Via, eyes still squinted in a sad slant, eyelids drooping with exhaustion. He reaches out, taking her right hand in his and running his thumb over the back of it. "It's okay, kid."

"Promise?" She asks, eyes wide with worry.

"Promise. Goodnight, V." He tells her and they both drift off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi oh my gosh!!!! I’m back and ready to get into this again. Sorry to have been gone so long, graduating is hectic during coronavirus times. Please please leave comments and suggestions, I would LOVE to know what you guys think or what you want to happen! :))))
> 
> TW in a way: Via is reckless about her own health because of what happened at the end of last chapter. She’s nervous and nauseas all day and can’t keep food down.

Via wakes up without FRIDAY's help in the morning, curled into Tony's side with her head resting on his chest. She can feel the comforting heat of his embrace through the cotton shirt she's wearing and it makes her not want to get out of bed even more, but she has to. Thankful that Tony's a heavy sleeper, she manages to inch her way out of the bed slowly and grab her show shirt, plaid peg pants, and a random sweatshirt from her closet. On her way out of the room she mumbles to FRIDAY and tells the AI to turn the alarm off; ("Already done, Miss James.")

Via makes quick work of filling her water bottle and eating a small breakfast of a granola bar. She hates eating in the mornings but she has finals all day and her first class is programming and she'll be damned if anything stops her from getting an A on this final. She settles into her new favorite place in the penthouse, the corner crease of the sofa, and scrolls through her phone liking opening night posts from the cast that are somehow already up at six fifteen in the morning and reading news until she hears Tony padding down the hall. He finds her in the living room on her phone and chuckles at their outfits. 

"You have good taste." He gets her attention, gesturing between his plaid pajama pants and Stark Industries pullover and her identical outfit.

"I got it from you." She responds, tucking her phone back into her pocket as he comes to sit on her right on the couch, laying his left arm behind her head. She leans into to gesture hesitantly.

"Kid, I'm not punishing you for last night. You're not on eggshells." He assures, pulling her closer. 

"But I," She starts to protest, a confused look on her face at the lack of punishment. "I shouldn't have done that." 

Tony sighs, trying to figure out how to go about this. What little argues about not getting punished? He thinks for a moment, deciding a lot of reassurance is the right path. 

"I know, but you didn't do it to be bad. You were trying to be a good student. I'm not going to blame you for something I caused." He comforts, right hand wrapping around Via's knees that are tucked into her chest in a hug.

"Are you sure?" She asks one more time. 

"I'm sure, Via." She relents, fully leaning into Tony's embrace and relaxing. 

They sit together for a few minutes silently, Tony strokes her knee and rocks her gently as they sit together. 

"Can we talk?" He interrupts the peaceful moment in favor of asking the question he's been dying to pose since she was little two days ago.

"About what?" Via pulls away, staring at his face. His eyebrows are furrowed in thought.

"You said something when you were little with me and you said the same thing to Bucky and Steve. Do you remember that?" Tony questions, unsure of how exactly to go about getting this out of her. It's not like he doesn't already know the answer.

"I remember." Via admits timidly. Of course she remembers, although the memory is glazed with a not unpleasant haze, she knows exactly what she said to both of them. "Holy shit, I, I promise I don't think either of you would ever do anything it's just, are you mad? Are they mad?"

"Oh my god, Via, no. No, nobody's mad at you for reacting like that." He soothes, keeping eye contact and brushing a hand through her hair. "We're mad at whoever made you feel like you needed to react like that." 

"I'm mad too." Via admits breathlessly, the realization overriding her face as determination bleeds through anxiety. "I don't like being alone." 

"You won't be alone anymore. There are so many people who love you already none of us would ever dream of leaving you alone." He promises, holding her close to his chest. 

"I still feel terrible." She admits, whispering guiltily. "I went too far yesterday. I want to say sorry."

Tony, of course, had watched the footage after he got Steve's text about her problem last night, and wasn't convinced she needed to apologize, but she needed peace of mind right now. It helped that he knew the pair's schedule.

"Why don't you stop by on your way to the car real quick? They usually head to the gym at around the same time you leave, they're up already." He proposes, sitting up straight. "Fri, please tell spider boy to go down to the car without Via, she'll join him on her own."

"You've got just enough time kid." He tells her as she picks up her bag and slips on her converse, headed for the elevator. 

"Bye Via, see you tonight, kid." He bids her goodbye with a loose hug. "Love you."

"Bye," She hesitates to assign him a name. "Love you too." She lets slip easily, smiling softly and getting in the elevator. 

She quietly asks FRIDAY to take her to Steve and Bucky's floor, clutching the straps of her backpack so tight she sees her knuckles turn white in the reflection of the door. The elevator stalls and she exits quietly, looking for signs of the two men as her anxiety festers. 

Last time I was big I was disastrous. Let's not let that happen this time.

She makes her way into the kitchen where she hears the two before she sees them. Steve is drinking water from his bottle and Bucky is eating something while sat at the nearest seat to her at the breakfast bar. They're dressed for training, and Bucky's hair is tied back into a bun. Via thinks he looks a lot younger that way. She knocks on the wall to announce her presence, and the two look over quickly. 

"You're really quiet." Steve laughs at the momentary shock. "FRIDAY told us you were on your way." 

"What's wrong?" Bucky asks, noticing your death grip on the two poor backpack straps. 

"I'm really sorry about last night." Via blurts out. "I feel awful."

Steve and Bucky share a confused glance. 

"What would you need to apologize for?" Steve ponders, crossing his arms and leaning back into the counter behind him.

"I don't know, I just, no I know, I just mean," Via stumbles. "I mean I don't want you to think I thought you would do something you wouldn't do." 

"Via, doll, come here." Bucky opens his arms for a hug and she rushed over into his embrace. 

"You're not mad?" She asks, arms wrapped tightly around his torso. 

"Pissed as hell at the person who made you feel like that, not at you. You're the coolest kid ever." Bucky reassures as she pulls back from the hug with a sheepish grin and makes her way into Steve's open embrace. 

"I didn't mean to yell at you." She mumbles into his chest. 

"I know you didn't." Steve comforts. "I could never be mad at my favorite Queens girl."

"Peter's not your favorite Queens kid?" She smiles.

"He's okay but I get the feeling Peter's not going to love the idea of catching up on all the Disney movies Buck and I missed while we were asleep. What do you say we start this weekend?" Steve proposes. 

"I'd love to." Via agrees, adjusting her backpack straps. 

"You better head out for school before you're late. See you tonight, doll, and kick some gifted kid behind." Bucky waves as she makes her way into the elevator and blows him a half joking kiss.   
——  
Why could I not have been born blonde?

Via was currently unnaturally nervous and pinning her wig obsessively well to her skull to pass the time before places were called. One last pin was placed behind her left ear and she swiped on one last coat of bright red lipstick before giving up on touch ups as a distractor. It clearly wasn't working. 

Via had not been this nervous for an opening night of a show since she somehow got Wednesday in the Addams Family her freshman year at the school. She chalked it up to anxiety about this being her last opening night in school and- nope. She wasn't going to go down that rabbit hole. Maybe it was the guilt on her conscience about lying to to Tony. Who knew, and she wasn't about to unpack all that and psychologically analyze herself with five minutes until places.

She follows routine and checks her phone to see where Peter and Ned found seats, so she could find them during bows. It had become their pre-show ritual after Peter insisted he should come see the show again when she was Wednesday because he was "too proud to only go once". She told him not to waste his money but he texted her that night: 'we're here, third row, left side, emo girl', and the tradition stuck. 

Peter texted her a simple 'fourth row, blondie' followed by 'break legs, snowflake, Happy's gonna pick us up after you're done'. 

Which side? Peter didn't specify and as soon as she typed the question places was called, so she shut off her phone and got ready to go. In the rush of the show, Via got too busy filling up her water bottle and swapping out her microphone pack's batteries that she didn't check her phone at intermission to ask Peter which side of the row he was in. 

The show was a blur and suddenly she found herself jogging onto stage in the swell in the music for her bow. The boy who played Seymour gestured towards her as she dipped down to bow and the crowd cheered. It was sweet, and when she rose she spotted Ned and Peter on the right side of the fourth row, smiling like idiots and cheering for her. God, she loved them so much. She didn't miss the pang in her heart as she looked away from them to take the company bow. She just wished that everyone else could be here too. 

Via waits for a few minutes to avoid the rush of people, returning her microphone to the tech booth before she goes out to meet Peter and Ned in the lobby. She spots them easily by the water fountain because of Peter's distinct blue sweater. 

"Hi guys!" She greets, throwing her arms around both of them in a hug as the last of the crowd meanders their way out of the doors. 

"You did it again, snowflake." Ned compliments and she blushes. 

"You're amazing!" Peter reiterates with a smile.

"You guys are sweet. I don't wanna keep you too long, though. I'm gonna rush back and take my costume off, thank you guys for coming, seriously." She grins appreciatively, giving them individual hugs and rushing back to the dressing room, into normal clothes, and out of the wig. 

Peter's still by the water fountain, tapping his foot and texting someone when Via find him again, stopping in front of him and finishing tying off her quick French braid before she speaks. 

"Sorry I kept you waiting. Ready to go?" She asks, and Peter jumps, startled. 

"Jesus, Via." He puts a hand on his chest. "No, you're still waiting for someone." He tells her.

"What?" She asks, confused. "Is that a riddle?" 

"You didn't really think Peter would let us miss your show, did you?" She hears, whipping around to find Tony, Bucky, Steve, Bruce, Thor, and two dark skinned men she doesn't recognize.

"Oh my god, hi." She exclaims, dropping her book bag and greeting Tony with a hug. "You came?" 

"How could I refuse Peter's offer? If I remember correctly, he said you were 'literally unbelievable because you would never think she's that good but she's better'." He chuckles, keeping an arm around her shoulders when she turns to see the rest of the group with an obvious blush bleeding through her foundation. 

"Parker, you're the worst." She jokes half heartedly. 

She steps away from Tony and exchanges quick hugs with everyone as greetings.

"Thank you for coming, I promise I'm not as special as Pete insists." She smiles, having to hop slightly to hug Thor.

"You're really something." Steve commends and the others nod. 

"Thank you." She accepts bashfully, turning to greet one of the new faces. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, I'm Sam, Sam Wilson. You got pipes, kid." He introduces, reaching out his hand for a handshake.

"Via." She returns the gesture, blushing. "Thank you, really."

"Hi, I'm Rhodey, the other half of Tony's brain. Nice to put a name to a face." He greets, offering a handshake as well. Via takes it. 

"Was wondering where he put it but it felt rude to ask." She jokes. "Hi."

"Come on kid, let's get home and get to pizza before you and Rhodey get kicked to the curb for slandering my immaculate name." Tony quips, taking Via's hand and leading the way to the few cars parked outside Midtown. 

Home. She likes the sound of that. 

Tony leads Via to a car for just the two of them, opening the door for her. She hurriedly gets in, muttering a flustered thank you and placing her book bag on the floor beside her feet. In her exhaustion, without a second thought she scoots into the middle seat of the car as soon as Tony gets in, staying close to the man. 

"Well hello to you too." Tony jests, allowing Via to grab onto his left arm as the car starts to move towards the tower. 

"Thank you for coming." She murmurs, unbuttoning and redoing the button on Tony's suit jacket skittishly. "I'm sorry."

"What?" The apology takes Tony by surprise. "What for?"

"I told Peter to lie to you so you didn't come." She sighs, rubbing the soft material of the jacket sleeve between her fingers. 

"He mentioned that." Tony responds coolly. "I know why you did what you did, and you know it was wrong. Just this once I'll give you a pass."

"Are you sure?" She questions sheepishly, dropping his hand and forcing herself to look away. This doesn't make sense. 

"Yes, I'm sure." Tony insists, watching Via as the car lapses into silence. 

Whether she knew it or not, Via wears her heart on her sleeve; or more accurately, on her face. The amount of discomfort she was in was nearly palpable, easily noticed from her crossed legs, hunched shoulders, and slightly furrowed brows. Try as he might, Tony couldn't understand what might have gotten her into this mood. Not ten minutes ago she was smiley and happy and now she looks so similar to the meek girl he met ambling out of his elevator days ago. Uncertain.

The rest of the car ride is agonizingly slow for both parties. Tony desperately wants to ask her what exactly set her off, and Via is dangerously close to snapping and crying because she just doesn't understand what's going on. Neither of them want her to be more upset though, so Tony lets her be, not bothering to start another conversation and not questioning how she doesn't lean into him when they're in the elevator like she always does because she's a little scared of it. 

Back in the penthouse, they find the rest of the group lounging around the living area, boxes of pizza and a stack of plates on the kitchen counter. As soon as they hear the elevator open they make their way to the kitchen and start handing out plates and slices of pizza. Tony heads to the kitchen too, not stopping Via from heading straight ahead and into the living room. Instead, he brings two plates to the living room and joins her, finding her in her usual spot in the corner listening to Rhodey and Sam, who are sitting to her left on the shorter part of the couch. 

"Here, V." He offers, handing her the plate with two pieces on it, which she thanks him for quietly, sitting up with the plate in her lap and eating slowly, slipping away while Tony and Rhodey where talking intently about something Tony was welding in the lab. 

Via quickly puts the second uneaten slice of pizza back in the box, even though she's hungry, tosses the paper plate, and downs a glass of water before using the restroom and returning to the living room. 

"There you are snowflake!" Peter calls, beckoning her over to where he sits with Thor and Bruce. "How was your programming final, by the way?" 

"It was literally just coding a two tab HTML website. Did your chem final kick your ass like you thought it would?" She asked, forgetting about the two adults beside them. "Oh my god, sorry!" She covered we mouth. She couldn't stop screwing up, could she.

"It's alright, Via. You're big." Bruce pacifies, his calmness doing very little to placate her. She just nods, turning back to head Peter's response about whatever reaction showed up on his final. 

Via stays with Peter until everyone starts to leave, Tony offering the guest rooms if anyone wanted to stay. Via waits quietly for the floor to be empty, content to give hugs and thanks as goodbyes to everyone in the meantime. By the end of goodbyes, Via has two new phone contacts for "Tony blackmail" according to Rhodey. Their names were decided by the men who they represent: Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Sam. She shot them each a quick text so they had her number and promised to be in touch.

As soon as everyone's gone, Via's off to the kitchen and has the pizza boxes and trash thrown down the garbage chute in record time, racing off to her room and getting ready for bed. Tony waits for her to change, brush her teeth, and return to the room before he tries to come in. He surveys the room, noticing her phone and laptop charging across the room as she stares up into nothingness, dressed in Steve's welcome present hoodie and baggy sweatpants. 

"Hey kid, I came to say goodnight." He says, posing the door and sitting down in the bed next to her shoulder. 

"Hey." Is all she gives him, crossing her arms. Tony sighs, leaning against the headboard and moving his legs to stretch out along the bed, almost hitting the teddy bear that sits alone at the foot of it. 

No words are exchanged for a few awkward minutes. Finally, Tony decides to take his chances and puts his hand on Via's head, stroking her hair. No response. Another few minutes later, Via rolls on her side, wrapping her arms around Tony's thigh and using it as a pillow. She looks so peaceful he can't bring himself to move, let alone ask her what's wrong. At this rate she'll be asleep soon and he wants her to get rest, and hopefully wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow. 

"Goodnight, Via. I love you, sweetheart." He whispers, heart aching for the girl and pledging to figure this out as soon as she gets home from her performances tomorrow night.

——

When Tony sleeps, he's out like a light. That works out wonderfully in Via's favor as she untangles herself from Tony and gets dressed in the first thing she grabs from her closet, overalls and a black shirt. At her door, she turns back and thinks better of leaving her phone here, grabbing it and putting it in her pocket despite the fact she has no intentions of using it today. One cold slice of pizza later, after filling up her water bottle and throwing on her converse, she's in the elevator. 

"Miss James," FRIDAY speaks. "Happy is waiting for you in the garage." 

She thinks about ignoring that and taking the subway like she planned to, but decides to refrain from disagreeing so she doesn't cause problems. Stepping out of the elevator, she sees the car idling in front of the doors, and steps into the back, bucking up. 

"Good morning, Via. Midtown?" Happy greets as the garage door opens. 

"Yes, thank you." She replies, allowing the silence to envelop the car. 

"Thank you for the ride, Happy. Would you mind picking me up at eleven, if it's not too much trouble? I can take the subway, actually, I have my card with me, never mind," Via rambles, hand on the door and poised to get out of the car. 

"Woah, no way are you coming home alone that late. Tony would have my head. See you at eleven kid, break a leg." Happy reassures. 

"Okay, uh, thank you." Via says, hopping out and closing the door, quickly making her way backstage and starting her makeup for the matinee. 

In between shows, her phone vibrates in her pocket but she ignores it, continuing to talk through the cast lunch without getting food. Even if she felt like it, which she promises herself she doesn't, the conversation she was having about trying to light next year's musical was interesting and she didn't want to tear herself away from it until Mrs. Johnston announced lunch was over. The second show flies by, and before she knows it she's jumping into the car, ready to be back at the tower. 

"Is your phone dead?" Is how Happy greets her as he pulls onto the street.

"No, why?" Via asks, taking it out to make sure. It's at ninety five percent.

"Tony said you weren't responding to his texts, he got worried after a while." Happy explains. "He's waiting for you in the penthouse."

A puddle of guilt settles heavily in her stomach. She made him worry. She was just trying to fix what she'd messed up and she managed to mess up even more. Could she do literally anything right?

"I didn't mean to make him worry, I just didn't have time to check my phone. Is he mad?" She questions nervously. 

"I can never tell with Tony." Happy admits, pulling into the garage. 

"Okay." Via mutters. "Thank you for picking me up."

"No problem Via, just so happens to be my job. Night kid." He waves as she gets out. 

"Night Happy." She goodbyes as the elevator doors close. 

The elevator feels hotter than usual as it ascends to the penthouse. As it stops, it dawns on Via that she feels like she's going to pass out. The angular corners of the elevator start to dim and blur, becoming unfocused. Convinced it's just the heat in the elevator, Via steps out of the box and kicks off her shoes, drinking from her water bottle in an unsuccessful attempt to cool herself down. When Tony rounds the corner, footsteps aggressive and face slack with annoyance, Via feels like she might just collapse. 

"Care to explain why you ignored me all day?" Tony asks, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall opposite Via. 

"I- I didn't mean to." Is all she manages, only able to fix her eyes on Tony's bicep, not ready to meet his pointed gaze.

Well, at least she thinks that she's looking at his bicep. In reality, she's staring at a painting two feet to the left of it. Tony, confused, takes a moment to look closely at the girl: somehow both flushed and pale, shaking and sweating, her eyes glassy and unfocused. 

"Hey, Via, honey, look here." Tony commands, and as soon as he does, her eyes snap up to try and make eye contact, failing as she loses her balance and stumbles. Tony rushes forward to catch her under her arms, bringing her close to him in a hug to support her weight. "Woah, okay. Let's go sit down."

Instead of going to the living room, Tony takes her to his room, the closest, and sits her down on his bed. She curls up into a ball immediately, turning away from Tony. 

"FRIDAY, vitals." He commands the AI. 

"Miss James has a normal temperature and normal, albeit slightly low, blood pressure. She is not dehydrated." FRIDAY responds. "If  
I may, sir, this may be due to the face that Miss James hasn't eaten since breakfast this morning, and did not eat what you gave her for dinner last night." 

That snitch. 

Via sighs, breaths shortening as she becomes overwhelmed by all the sensations. Her vision clouding around the edges, the deafening silence and the way her body aches to be back in the hug Tony gave her earlier. 

"Oh, Via." Tony mutters disappointedly enough to make her want to cry. So she does, tears gather in her eyes and freely meander their way down her checks, hidden behind her arms and a curtain of hair. "Honey, please let me see you. Please talk to me."

The desperation in his voice makes her slowly inch her face out from its hiding place, staring up at his concerned gaze over her from where he's standing beside the bed. "I'm sorry." She mutters, and it clicks. 

The not being on the phone, the reserved attitude since the car ride yesterday night, not eating her food. Via had been so nervous she was inadvertently punishing herself because Tony hadn't punished her. 

"Baby doll, I'm not mad at you. I never was." He promises, wiping her tears and stroking her hair softly. "Can I pick you up? We need some cool down time I think." 

Via nods, allowing him to hoist her into his arms and wrap her legs around his torso while she sits on his hip. Tony walks towards the wall, stopping in front of it to gaze out at the skyline, bouncing Via softly and laying kisses on her face occasionally while her breathing becomes more streamlined. 

"We're going to get a snack and then have a talk but I need you to promise me something." Tony interrupts the silence to tell her. "You are not going to get punished for this. Now I know you need some more structure and guidance, and that's perfectly okay. Promise me you understand that I'm not going to punish you when you feel bad."

"Promise." Via responds after thinking it over. It does make sense that he doesn't want to kick her while she's down even though it's her fault she's down. 

"Good, honey. Let's get some food in you now and after our talk we can cuddle and sleep this off." He insists, taking them to the kitchen and sitting Via down on the counter, grabbing a Gatorade and a tub of fruit before sitting down at a stool and carefully maneuvering Via to sit in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." She mutters, sipping from the Gatorade and allowing Tony to feed her a strawberry. "Guilty."

"Is that why you tried to punish yourself?" He questions, and Via swallows thickly. Her actions really become real when he says them out loud like that. "If you feel on edge, you need to tell me. I'm here to help you, it doesn't matter if you're big or little. We could have avoided you hurting yourself."

"I just felt like I was getting off too easy." She explains, voice cracking. "I still feel bad about everything."

"I know. From now on we're going to have open communication. I'm going to tell you explicitly, the reason you're not getting punished is because I know you punished yourself enough today and yesterday and to be honest, I just want to cuddle away all the bad stuff right now." Tony tells her honestly, spearing a grape with the fork and feeding it to her. "I'm not angry at all, I just want you safe and happy."

"Can I," Via starts, spurred on by the conversation to be more transparent. "Can I sit with you?" She reaches out her hands.

"I don't see why not." He responds with a grin and setting her sideways in his lap.

Via relaxes into him, enjoying his warmth and placidly allowing him to finish feeding her the fruit and occasional sips of Gatorade. As they sit together like this, far from the ground and cuddled close, Via starts to feel small, her head able to easily fit under his chin, his arms encasing her against the steady chest. Protected. Safe. Tony doesn't even notice she's slipping until she throws her arms around his neck suddenly, kissing his jaw before relaxing against his shoulder. 

"Are we feeling little? That's okay, baby doll, let's get ready to sleep then." He whispers, placing the fruit and Gatorade back in the fridge with one hand, keeping a tight hold on a rapidly tiring Via. 

Tony decides to stop at Via's room, grabbing her bear and a pair of leggings before heading towards the bathroom. 

"Do you think you can get ready for bed while I go get something?" Tony asks, placing the bear on the counter on top of the pajamas. At Via's nod, he leaves her to it and heads into his room in search of the article of clothing. He finds it in his closet easily, the Stark Industries workout shirt sliding off the hanger and into his hand. After he throws that on the bed, he changes into sweats and an MIT shirt before going back to Via.

Via's finishing up brushing her teeth when Tony returns, washing out her mouth with water when he places the shirt on the counter next to the pajama pants. 

"I'll wait for you out here, okay?" He says, closing the door and shooting off a few responses to texts as he waits. He's in the middle of telling Steve he will seriously consider confiscating his shield if he asks him what he wants for his birthday one more time when Via emerges in the way too big shirt with messy wavy hair and glasses. 

"Don't you look cute as a button. Ready for bedtime cuddles and music?" Tony asks, ushering her into his room and helping her up into bed. He joins her, laying down and grinning amusedly as she lays beside him, practically on top of him.

"C'mere," He invites, hoisting her to lay on his chest. "FRIDAY, can you shuffle our bedtime playlist?" The AI complies silently, the calm sounds of Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon softly playing a moment later.

Tony hums along, taking off Via's glasses with a bop to her nose and setting them on the bedside table. His left hand wraps around her waist, his right resting on her cheek. 

"Daddy?" Via asks quietly, speech spurred by exhaustion. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it, angel?" He asks curiously. 

"I love you." She professes, arms tightening around his upper body in a hug. "Forgot to tell you the last couple times I was going to sleep."

"I love you too, sweetheart. You're my favorite girl ever." He promises, patting her cheek. 

"I'm your only girl ever, Daddy." She grins.

"Exactly." He smiles. "Goodnight baby doll."

"Night Daddy." Via whispers against his chest, content to cuddle close and come down from the stress of the day.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm back and posting this at the atrocious hour of way past the middle of the night because I just finished editing. :) Writers block is setting in hard but I'm hoping to write about the gala mentioned in this chapter and make it a whole thing, so look for that! As always comments and suggestions are totally welcome and encouraged!! :)

Irony plagued Tony Stark. Today's annoying irony was one of his greatest achievements disappointing him beyond what he thought possible: FRIDAY woke him up out of a dead sleep on a Sunday. 

"Boss, it is currently 9:46 in the morning on Sunday, May twenty-sixth." The AI chirps.

"Who told you to wake me up?" He grumbles simply, hugging the girl on his chest even closer, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other on the back of her head, protectively holding her close; savoring the peaceful moment despite the rude awakening.

"You did, boss, under the 'Get Up and Move' protocol." FRIDAY responds.

"I'm this close to turning your coding over to the government." He threatens emptily, pairing the statement with an excessive groan. "Be useful and order breakfast for us, please?"

"Will do, boss." The AI affirms. "I have an update regarding Tuesday night's charity gala for the NYC Bureau of Defense Analytics."

"Lead with that next time." He groans.

"The pianist tested positive for the flu, would you like me to research another performer and book them?" FRIDAY offers.

"It's May. Really? No." Tony turns down. "That's the kind of thing I need to vet before I book it so I don't have shitty music all night. Remind me later."

"Yes, boss." 

After a few moments of silent and motionless rest, Tony figures Via will never sleep tonight if he doesn't get her up soon and he begrudgingly starts to wake her up. 

"Hey baby doll, it's time to get up." He coaxes, rubbing her back and slowly shifting around to hopefully gently shake her awake. "Come on, let's go."

Via stirs slowly, burrowing her face into Tony's chest and whining, letting him know that she's very much still little and very unhappy her sleep was interrupted. Her hands grasp at his shirt and the bedsheets, searching for something. Tony sees the bear just by the other pillow on the bed, grabbing it and sliding it into the crook of her arm. 

"There you go, there's," He trails off, not knowing what to call the animal. "What's their name?" He asks, in hopes of waking her up quicker.

"Benji. He's a boy." Via whispers, using the hand unoccupied by the bear to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Happy morning, daddy."

"Happy is not a word I would use to describe mornings." He laughs lightly, patting her back. "But I think I could make them better, what do you think about breakfast?"

Via nods happily, willingly rolling off Tony and out of bed quickly. She's out of the room, toting the bear by its paw before Tony's even vertical. 

"No running!" He calls, immediately hearing her footsteps cease to be heard as she makes it the rest of the way into her room. He throws on an MIT crewneck with jeans. "Fri, tell Pepper I've got the cancelled music covered. Don't let her pick it out, god knows we'll end up with some weird folk band that's supposed to be trendy." 

"Would you like me to include the last part of your sentiment?" The AI asks.

"No, I don't want to die today." Tony says, making his way to the cracked door down the hall and knocking on the frame to alert Via of his presence. "Anything I can help you with?" 

"I don't wanna pick out clothes." She whines from her position on the bed. "Help please?" She adds before he prompts her.

"That I can do, thank you for the manners." He obliges, quickly selecting a red and yellow striped shirt and black joggers and handing them over. Via takes the clothes and places them on the bed, looking at him expectedly. "Yes?"

"Need help, please." She requests, fiddling with Benji's paw. 

"Of course, honey. Stand up for me." Tony coaches, helping Via pull her arms out of the large Stark Industries shirt and helping her into the new one. Via's hair is disheveled when it comes through the collar of the red and yellow shirt, sticking out and tickling her face lightly. Via's hands shoot up to rub the tickling sensation away, the tickle of her hair making her squeak. Tony kisses her nose, pushing the hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ears, offering his hand to her and leading the way back to the kitchen. "You're so cute. You know what I think we should do today?"

"What?" She asks, gripping Benji's paw with one hand and reaching for Tony's hand with the other. 

"I don't know." He grins. "What do you want to do?" 

"Dunno, daddy! 's why you asked me!" She giggles as they reach the table. Tony smiles back, allowing himself to thank the universe for picking this particular turn of events out for him. 

"Sir, your breakfast is awaiting you in the elevator." FRIDAY informs him.

"Well, guess we'll never know." Tony quips, heading down the hall, tailed closely by Via, who huffs lightheartedly. 

"Not nice." She quips back, following Tony into the kitchen and waiting patiently beside the counter. 

"Oh, I'm awful, aren't I?" Tony smiles, grabbing two plates and starting to arrange food onto them, a tiny humorous grin on his face as he does. "Will you put two forks on the table, please?" He points to the shelf behind him.

"Only if you tell me what we're doing, daddy." Via bargains, already picking out the silverware. Riding the high of the last few days, Tony thinks for a moment, deciding today is as good a day as ever to try the whole water thing again. It's not still a major fear, but he's not as comfortable as he wants to be, despite how long it's been since water became an issue. 

"After we let our breakfast settle, I'll take you up to the roof and we can swim some. What do you say? It's a pretty hot day today." Tony offers, taking the plates of eggs, bacon, and potatoes, and fruit to the table.

"Fun." She comments, trailing behind him and sitting in a kitchen chair. Tony takes the seat to her left and pretends not to notice how Via scoots her chair closer to his. She does it again, ending up just beside him, their shoulders brushing. Tony grins softly at that, pleased that after last night Via didn't pull away from him, instead she's being truthful to herself and doing what she knows she wants to do. 

Breakfast is a quiet affair; Tony realized many things with Via were. His mind wanders to yesterday as he eats, stealing glances to Via and seeing how her face changes as she thinks, any semblance of a poker face disappearing when she's little. Her beautiful irony is that she's so peaceful and quiet, yet she had this infectious and undeniable energy when she was on stage yesterday, pieces of it still ebbing away when she met them after the show. It was the most relaxed, yet also the most energized, he had seen her. That was truly Via, he knew. It was the Via Peter got to see, the Via he was grasped with a glimpse of yesterday. He wanted to see her again. To bring her out for good. He couldn't wait for that Via to be the Via he would always be met with when he saw her. 

Via distracts him from his thoughts when she reaches over to take his empty plate off the table and stack it on hers. 

"No, no, honey. Let me get those, they're big girl plates so we need to be careful with them." He stops her, taking the plates and putting them in the sink. Via frowns confusedly from beside the pushed in chair, and Tony comes back to her side to play with her hair. "It's okay, I just didn't want you to get hurt. Especially not before we go swimming, right?" 

"Yeah, swimming." Via's shy smile returns, hidden partially behind Benji's head. "Now?"

"No, we just ate." Tony explains. "What do you say to Legos while we wait?"

Via nods happily, latching onto Tony's arm and burying her face in his sleeve. Tony snorts a laugh, using his left hand to softly play with her hair, choosing again to not comment on her closeness. He couldn't deny it was endearing, especially her shyness about asking for affection Tony had absolutely no problem providing. He supposes he'll just have to initiate more affection until she's ready to ask for it on her own. 

"Your Legos are in the living room, would you like to stay buried in my arm for the trip or can I carry you there?" He offers, hoping for the latter. Via's grip on his bicep tightens momentarily before she removes her arms from around his right one, wrapping them around his neck instead, head craning to find its way into the crook of his neck. "Alright then."

Tony picks her up and makes his way to the living room, and if he's walking slower than usual and enjoying the time he has with Via so pliant and content, happily cuddled as close as humanly possible, then that's his business; and if he intentionally sets up the Legos with her in his arms even though it's difficult, placing them so that he can sit her between his legs and lean on the couch so his back doesn't hate him later, that's his business too. 

Via contentedly settles, facing Tony, a pile of various Legos of different shapes and sizes and colors set between them. The two silently build, Tony tinkering a little, but mostly watching Via construct something piece by piece, enjoying the focused stare and gentle way she picks up every chosen block and clicks it into place. The way her eyebrows crease together and furrow is briefly reminiscent of one of Peter's faces he makes in the lab when he fixes a particularly annoying suit problem. Tony wonders if Via would like lab work like Peter. Is she just as smart as Peter? Big Via is still sort of a mystery to Tony, one that he desperately wants to unravel, but for now, little Via is here, and Tony loves getting to know little Via too. 

"What did you make, Miss Architect?" He asks, seeing her place one final block before spinning the creation in her hand slowly. 

"Hydrogens." Is all she says. Tony sees it now, the poles and the big bricks that have two littler ones on top. That sort of answers the smarts question: even little she's a brainiac. "What'd you make?"

"I don't think my dog beats your hydrogens, but I tried, Einstein." He smiles, holding up the pitifully simple dog made of mismatched colors. 

"It's pretty." Via says earnestly. "A rainbow." 

"That's true." He concedes. "Tell you what, if you clean up the Legos, I'll go find our swimsuits, and by the time we're in them we'll be ready to swim." 

After an eager nod, Tony makes his way into his own closet and grabs his simple black trunks and heads to Via's closet to find her swimsuit, a matching black high waisted boyshort bottom and a sports bra style top, which Pepper, ever practical, had picked out for him in lieu of his first choice, panic buying every style of swimsuit and letting her pick. Upon returning to the living room, Tony was met with the most adorable scene he'd witnessed to date. Via had cleaned up the Legos and was using their box to prop up Benji, who she's helping move around to the beat of her mumbled version of 'Be Our Guest'. 

"You ready, honey?" He interrupts, announcing his presence. "Benji has to stay down here, he can't go swimming, okay?"

"Was gonna leave him here." Via assures, meeting Tony where he's standing after tucking Benji into the corner of the couch to sit and wait for them to return. "He doesn't like the water very much."

That makes two of us, Tony thinks.

"That's very considerate of you." Tony praises. Via smiles, face dusting light pink at the sentiment. "Alright, go change fast or I'm leaving you here." 

"Swimming isn't fun alone." Via deadpanned back, taking the suit out of Tony's hands, lingering in her spot momentarily before she steals a quick hug and speed walks towards her room to change. 

The pool only took up a quarter of the roof, leaving space for chairs, tables, a bar, and a small garden that Steve tended to. As Via rushed out of the elevator to look around Tony thanked himself for the foresight of extending the tower's walls up tall enough to make a railing, calling after her to stop before she got too close to the edge for comfort. Via scanned the roof, taking in the place and the views from up this high, content to stay far away from the edge. She doesn't like heights. Turning around, she walks back to Tony and takes his hand, letting him lead her to the steps that go down into the shallow end of the pool. 

Tony lets her linger apprehensively on the top step of the pool as he walks down the steps, still holding her hand. The water here is only four feet, she'd be just fine if she walked down the steps, but he doesn't want to rush her. A few moments of hesitation later, Via meanders down the steps and into the water, smiling at the rippling surface.

"Do you like it?" Tony questions. 

"Yeah, went swimming with Pete and Ned once." She supplies, stepping closer to Tony in the water. 

"Really? What kinds of games did you play?" He asks, flicking water at her with his free hand. She screeches at the cool feeling on her chest.

"Toss a ball and sometimes I watched Pete and Ned wrestle but I didn't wanna cause it's scary in the water." She admits, twiddling with Tony's hand under the water and making ripples.

"Sometimes the water can be scary, yeah." He agrees. “But Daddy won’t let anything happen.”

“Cause you’re a superhero.” Via decides, dropping Tony’s hand under the water in favor of abruptly jumping into his arms and wrapping hers around his neck.

“Woah there, jumping bean,” Tony exclaims, supporting her with his arms and shifting her to sit on his hip instead of his front. “What do you say to walking a few laps around the pool?”

Via agrees, happy to feel the sun on her face and the cool rippling of the water around her and Tony as he walks her around the pool to the soft sounds of a summer pop playlist FRIDAY had apparently curated. The feeling of Tony’s built and pleasantly warm body beneath her leaves her content, mind left virtually empty with relaxation, and they make their laps for a while, just enjoying the summer sun and each other's company. The simplicity of the moment makes Tony unexpectedly verklempt. For years, this moment, moments like these, seemed so far out of reach he never bothered to think about what he was missing. There was always something in the way, it was never, and seemed like it never would be, the right time. First taking over the company, then Afghanistan, and the million Avengers related roadblocks.

He should have known the universe always had better timing than he did. December of last year, nine months post civil war debacle, he was notified by the Department of Classification that if he wished to be matched, this year was his last opportunity, given that he had turned forty-five that May, the month after the airport battle. Everything was as calm as it would get, as settled as possible, and after a quick, in Tony Stark fashion, chaotic phone call to clear (more like inform without asking permission) it with Fury, he reauthorized his name to be put in the pool of eligible caregivers for next May’s Classification Day and didn’t look back.

Being able to indulge in following his natural inclination after so many years is a feeling like no other. Via is very quickly becoming his everything, and he loves it. He loves her. 

When he glances back down at Via for the first time in a while, he huffs a gentle chuckle. She’s asleep, cheek squished against his shoulder, the gentle rocking of the water and the pleasant heat of the sun having lulled her into her nap while Tony was thinking. Tony slowly makes his way out of the pool and wraps them both in towels, settling into a chair beneath an umbrella with her draped across his lap. Tony pulls up a holographic screen from his watch, making a brief note to tell his therapist about today’s morning pool escapade before pulling up the schematics for an Iron Man suit upgrade and settling back into his chair, one arm settled across Via’s back in an embrace.

This’ll do for a morning nap, he supposes.

\----

Via wakes up feeling refreshed and not in headspace, settled into the couch in the living room and changed out of her swimsuit and into this mornings outfit, barely having worn in for an hour earlier. She’s not sure what pulled her from her nap until she hears the pacing footsteps in the kitchen and the conversation.

“Yes Pepper, I’m vetting musicians right now.” Tony responds, and Via can see his shadow cross the kitchen because of the midday sun shining through the windows. “I have time, V’s napping.”

The soft familiarity of the nickname makes her heart swell, and she decides to head to the kitchen and see Tony, hanging around the doorway while he finishes his call. 

“You have my permission to berate me over the phone if I don’t hire someone by tonight. Bye, Pep.” He signs off, FRIDAY ending the call, and turns to go wake Via up only to find her leaning against the wall by the kitchen entrance. “Hi, V. Sleep well?”

“Yeah, thank you. Are you okay?” She asks, noticing Tony’s business persona still ebbing away despite ending his call.

“I’m perfect, just dealing with a bump in the road in some gala plans. Are you?” He responds, shoulders relaxing. “After last night, I need to know if you need help.”

The bluntness is both expected and unexpected, Via had just assumed he would wait a moment before letting the other shoe drop regarding the whole ‘being a mess’ thing. 

“It’s just hard.” She sighs, clamming up. “I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Oh, V.” Tony responds with a matching sigh, opening his arms. “Come here.”

Via acquiesces, making her way across the kitchen to stand in front of Tony. He tucks a curl behind her ear and lays a soft hand on her shoulder. 

“This isn’t conditional. It’s my job to help you figure this out, I would never expect you to be a perfect person. Nobody is.” He promises.

“Everything used to be conditional. I don’t know what to do without conditions.” She admits, crossing her arms over her chest and closing off. 

“What do you mean?” Tony doesn’t know what to do here, Via has volunteered pieces of life before their match, small bits of it, but never all of it. But this is a breakthrough. This is huge. 

“Can we sit?” She asks pensively, eyes meeting the floor.  
“Of course we can.” Tony breathes, relieved when Via extends her hand for him to hold, and leads them to Via’s spot, the corner of the couch. Via burrows into the corner, knees up to her chest, Tony facing her, still keeping a firm and comforting hand on hers.

“I think I have authority problems.” She states plainly, Tony only silently nodding along in response. “I was pretty much raised by nannies. The only thing my parents did was make decisions for me. Everything was so straightforward with them. They didn’t negotiate.” 

“My nannies did everything for them.” Via takes a shuddery breath, squeezing Tony’s hand back. “Except discipline.”

Tony’s breath catches in his throat at her admission. The universe really doesn’t screw things up. Tony and Via were so hauntingly similar: two latch key kids raised by nannies dealing with authority problems. They were worlds apart in how they dealt with it, Tony has a chance to break the cycle and Via has a second chance at forming an unbreakable bond with a caregiver figure in her life. They make sense. 

“Sweetheart, can I please hug you?” Tony asks, extending his arms for the distraught girl. Via launches herself into his hold, sitting on her knees and throwing her arms around his torso, Tony’s arms wrapping her up and dwarfing her, holding her safely in his tight embrace.

“I just don’t know what to do sometimes.” She mutters into his chest, grip like a vice, holding onto him for support while years and years of hurt pour out. 

“I’ll help you figure it out, I promise.” Tony comforts, arms equally tight, holding her together.

He holds her like that for a long time, rocking and shushing, rubbing her back, while the weight of a life escaped rolls off her back, the light, airy feeling of a new reality settling in her bones. This is life. Imperfect and messy but shiny, new, and enlightening all the same. Only doesn’t know how long it is until Via speaks up, sitting back on her heels.

“You know, I play piano.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my word hello everyone!! I am FINALLY back. School is so hard. I finally got to finish this chapter and I'm SO excited to get into Tony's birthday in the next one. Comments and suggestions are always welcome!! Enjoy! :)
> 
> (Author update 12/20/20: sike, I liked this ending better. For the record, Via painted Tony an NYC skyline and Tony's birthday cake was chocolate with white frosting.)

What do you get a man who could buy God?

Via can’t buy God. So where does that leave her? Target?

On the bright side, she did at least have something. After her pool nap on Sunday, she’d woken up between headspaces, decided to make a card in littlespace, hiding not so subtly from Tony in her room with a piece of printer paper and her favorite crayons, and stayed little the rest of the day. The card sat tucked between a stack of shirts on the lower level of her closet, for safekeeping until his birthday on Wednesday. 

The New York City streets looked about how you would assume they would on a Monday morning at nine. Crowded, bustling, rushed, the last wave of commuters making mad dashes to clock in. Via sticks to the outskirts of the sidewalk, making her way to the corner bodega Peter told her had breakfast sandwiches that rivalled Delmars. High praise, so Via had to check it out before visiting the nearest Target to hopefully get some inspiration for Tony’s gift, and also to pick up refills on makeup she’d run out of before the gala tomorrow. 

Tony was originally going to take her along as his guest, the party being on the smaller side, a perfect opportunity to phase her into his lifestyle a little further. Although, upon Via’s admission and volunteering, he was wrangled easily into letting her play the music for the evening. Frankly, if she spent half the night at the piano, he would have an easier time keeping tabs on her and wouldn’t worry endlessly the whole night. Plus, she was seriously talented, and a little part of him was excited to stroke his own ego when he told people she was his little. Tony promptly offered to pay her, which she vehemently denied because she played for fun, not for money. Also, taking money from people made her uncomfortable, even if she was paired to one of the richest men alive. She begrudgingly settled with letting him pick her outfit out, and only playing for the first hour of socializing time and the last ten minutes of the party. The dancing music could come from speakers.

That plan was set, unlike the plan for the gift. Via wanders aimlessly along the aisles of the store with a small haul already in her basket, drowning out the world while listening to her comfortably familiar audition songs playlist in one ear. 

What does a man with everything- fancy tower, superhero legacy, a top of the line lab filled with sleek and futuristic tech, more zeros in his bank account than Via could probably fathom- not have?

And then, there it is. She’s got it, but she needs a little help. No problem, her schedule’s free, Tony’s busying fleshing out something for Peter’s suit in the lab with him, and she already has plans to visit her favorite super soldiers for a late lunch and the movie she was promised anyway. It’s perfect.

Maybe she can squeeze a call in to ‘Uncle Rhodey’ before then.

\----

The phone only rings twice before her call is picked up. Somehow, Via figured Rhodey would be that kind of guy.

“James Rhodes, what can I do for you?” He answers formally.

“Uh, hi. This is Via, Tony’s-” She stammers awkwardly, unsure.

“Oh, hi! I was wondering when you might call. What’d Tones do this time?” He responds eagerly, immediately dropping the professional tone. 

“Well, actually, I have a couple questions.” Via fiddles with the handle of her canvas bag, pre-packed before she goes downstairs to see Steve and Bucky. 

“There’s a lot to unpack with him.” Rhodey snorts, clearly joking based on the amused tone. “Shoot.”

“Does he have a favorite kind of cake?”

\----

“Afternoon, Via.” Steve calls from the kitchen, stirring a pot of something over the stove to the tune of what Via recognizes as country music when she gets to the kitchen’s entrance. 

“Hi, uh,” She stumbles, not knowing what to address him as. It hadn’t come up when she was big just yet. “I didn’t peg you as a country person.”

“I’m realizing I’m not.” He chuckles lightly, picking out three plates from the cabinet to the right of the stove and setting them out on the counter. Now that she's close enough, Via recognizes fettuccine alfredo and a pan of roasted vegetables set on the burners. “You know, you can call Buck and I your uncles. That’s technically what we are.”

“Oh, okay.” Via nods, cheeks tinting coral. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not in here, but if you want to you can go grab Bucky from the office? I don’t know what he’s doing.” Steve offers, stirring the pasta. Via nods agreeably. “It’s down the hall, second door on the left.”

“On it.” Via accepts happily, finding the door to the office cracked, the sound of someone sifting through something coming from the room. She knocks cautiously on the doorframe.

“Steve?” Comes Bucky’s naturally gruff timbre. 

“Unfortunately, no.” Via softly smiles, pushing the door open to find Bucky sat at a nice wooden desk adorned by papers and folders, perched on a plush leather office chair, riffling through the desk drawer. “But he wants you to come eat.”

“Of course, sorry. I was looking for a spare hair tie. Broke my last one this morning after our run.” Bucky explains, closing the drawer and joining Via in the hallway.

“I always wear a spare.” Via offers him her wrist. “I can braid too.” She grins, only half joking. 

“Thank you,” Bucky answers, a soft grin adorning his face to match hers when he takes the offered hairtie. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

Bucky doesn’t exactly have an affinity for people touching his head or his neck, but if non threatening had a human embodiment, it would be Via, who needs to get on her tiptoes to start the french braid despite Bucky sitting down at a kitchen stool. Steve watches bemused as Via quickly and efficiently weaves a braid and ties it off in a minute flat, fluffing a few pieces before stepping to stand beside Bucky instead of behind him. 

“I like the look.” Steve compliments, setting plates down on the table, which Via helps with against Steve’s will before he can tell her no. 

“You think I’m pretty, Steve?” Bucky grins wolfishly. 

“Wish I didn’t.” He quips back amusedly. 

“It’s so sweet to see older couples still in love.” Via comments into her bowl.

“Cheeky.” Steve snorts. 

“What’s in the bag?” Bucky asks, easy grin resting on his face. 

“Oh, I was wondering if you’ve ever seen Bob Ross? Also, how free are you on Wednesday?”

\----

“Jesus _christ_!”

“No, close. Just me.” Tony greets from the open door of the bathroom where Via’s finishing her makeup. “I have your stuff for tonight, and dinner.” 

Via slides on her glasses, the offending frames having been set on the counter for the duration of her getting ready; the reason she hadn’t seen Tony come to the door in the first place. She follows him to the kitchen table, curiously taking notice of the black garment bags hanging on his bedroom door frame. 

The table is already set, takeout from Tony’s favorite italian place, that if Via thought too hard about the prices she wouldn’t eat. There’s a rectangular velvet box sat on the otherwise empty island. The two settle in beside each other at the table and eat in a pleasantly full silence for a few minutes.

“You excited?” Tony asks, breaking the trance of calm that swept the room.

“Yeah,” Via breathes out, playing with her fork between bites, letting a small nervous grin slip onto her face. “FRIDAY got me the sheet music for Highway to Hell.” 

“She’s good like that.” Tony smirks, going to ruffle Via’s straightened hair, which she dodges quickly. “Can’t wait to brag about my Mozart to all the stuffy government cronies.”

“You sound like you’re a real joy at parties.” She grins, tapping her fork with a painted black nail. 

“I’m a delight, nervous nelly.” He huffs jokingly. “Finish up, unfortunately I can’t be fashionably late like normal when I’m the one bringing the band.”

The food is finished quickly, dishes set in the sink, and Via turns to head back to the hallway to get dressed.

“Hold on, speedy. I’ve got something for you.” Tony stops her, picking up the velvet box and handing it into her clammy hand when she’s close enough.

“Thank you.” She timidly responds, wrapping her hand around the box. 

“You haven’t even opened it yet, honey.” Tony laughs, breaking the tension.

“I already love it.” She says, grinning.

She tips open the box, peering in to see a rosey peach colored topaz gem on a silver necklace resting atop the velvet. 

“Oh my god, thank you.” Via gasps breathily, gingerly setting the open box on the counter and wrapping one arm around Tony in an earnest embrace. “It’s so pretty. Will you help me put it on?”

“You’re very welcome, kid. Of course.” Tony says, plucking the necklace out of the box and draping it across Via’s collarbones gingerly, doing the clasp. Taking his opportunity, he ruffles Via’s hair, who makes some amalgamation of a whine and groan when she pulls away. “Gotcha.”

“We’re not friends anymore.” She states plainly, following Tony down the hallway. 

“I need that in writing.” He responds, handing her the smaller garment bag and a shoe box, receiving a thanks before the two part ways to change and head up to the floor where the party is being held.

Via lays everything on her bed, unzipping the bag and opening the box. The garment bag holds a silky black surplice top with a tie on the right, and a pair of gray peg pants. The shoes are peach ankle boots. Tony paid attention to her preferences, picked something he knew she would love. After getting dressed, she grabs her folder of sheet music on the way out of her room. Meeting Tony by the elevator, she smiles and giggles at his outfit: a gray double breasted suit with a black silk shirt; and he’s wearing peachy tinted glasses.

“So we’re those people now?” She gestures between their outfits.

“Oh, absolutely.” Tony smirks, gesturing into the open elevator. “Shall we go, Beethoven?”

“We shall, Warbucks.” She jests, walking into the elevator.

“Oh, come on kid.” He snorts.

The floor the party is being held on is open, high ceilings and a loft-like second floor set up for mingling and dancing. The piano sits off to the side of the loft on its own raised platform, a beautiful black baby grand. The couches to the left of the elevator are all occupied by the team, Rhodes, Sam, Steve, and Bucky crammed on one, Thor sharing the other with a red haired woman and a brunet man. A strawberry blonde woman in a pristine white suit is pacing and texting, and looks up upon their entrance, walking over with a practiced and poised grace.

“Tony!” She greets, sharing a quick embrace with him before turning to Via, extending her hand. “Hi, you must be Via. I’m Pepper Potts.”

“Nice to meet you.” Via responds, shifting her folder of music to her other arm and shaking Pepper’s hand. 

Before an actual conversation can begin, Peter jogs down the hallway to the left and collides with Via in a hug, sending them both to the floor in a heap. 

“Snowflake!” He says. “You look so pretty!”

“Thanks, I haven’t seen you dressed up in forever. Red’s your color.” Via compliments, sitting back. 

“Oh stop, I’m blushing.” Peter grins, eyes darting to the unnamed couple on the sofa by Thor, who are getting up and coming over. “Natasha and Clint picked it.”

“Speaking of me, I would prefer it if you could only sack your friends with explicit consent.” Clint says, shifting his gaze to Via. “Hi, honey.”

“That’s a solid rule.” The woman adds, red curls dipping with a nod. “Nice to meet you, Olivia.”

“You too,” Via responds, inwardly cringing. “You can call me Via, only my parents call me Olivia.”

They nod, getting called over to the bar by Pepper, waving and leaving Peter and Via.

“They have good taste.” Via says, tapping her nails on the folder sat beside her on the floor.

Peter smiles, the skin by his eyes crinkling with the motion. 

“They do.” He says. “I’m a catch.”

“You’re something.”

“Rude!”

“Alright you two, off my floors.” Tony says, offering them each a hand. “Let’s get this party started.”

\----

Tony always forgets how much he hates government officials and senators until he hosts government officials and senators. If he hears one more “it’s an honor to be invited here” he might just implode. Looking up at the clock, he sees that it’s eight fifty, ten minutes until Via stops playing and he can have someone to talk to other than people who want to kiss his ass for campaign funding. Excusing himself from a conversation with people whose names he isn’t sure he heard in the first place, he heads up the stairs into the loft to see how things are going by the other bar, and to check on his favorite live music act. 

He grins when he recognizes the beat of _Africa_ by Toto, making his way to stand off to the side by the wall and watch her play while he can. Her face is calm, eyebrows just slightly pinched and nose scrunched in focus while she reads the holographic projection of the sheet music. Peter is beside her on the bench, occasionally swiping through the pages. Tony knows he asked FRIDAY to disable the automatic turning just so he could help Via out. 

Tony sort of zones out, listening to the music and lost in thought. The trajectory of his life is completely different now that he has Via, a thought that would have scared him shitless a few years ago, but now he can’t stop the warm feeling he has in his chest at the thought. A boisterous laugh snaps him out of his moment.

“Maybe that’s why he has so much time to throw parties.” A skinny kid in a polo says, standing in a clump with a few other college age kids he assumes are the interns. “The government definitely can’t trust Stark with another human.”

“Yeah, Chase, I don’t think Tony Stark screams ‘responsible caregiver’.” A blonde girl snorts. “But neither do you.”

“Shut up, Em.” He laughs. “But while we’re on the subject, should I shoot my shot with the piano player?”

Tony decides to step in then, walking over to the interns and inserting himself into the conversation.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Sorry kid.” Tony claps him on the back. 

The kids laugh nervously, ‘Chase’ wraps a white knuckled hand around his beer tightly. 

“Why’s that, Mr. Stark?” A clearly uncomfortable brunette girl asks. 

“She’s already paired with someone.” He answers. “Also, she has standards.”

“How do you know?” The boy asks, feigning nonchalance. 

“I happen to be her caregiver.” Tony answers, turning to walk away so he can bring Via with him downstairs and get to having as much fun as is possible at a government function. But, before he gets too far away, he turns back to the stunned kids to say one final thing. “Also, if you plan to be politicians, you might want to learn how to whisper.”

Via is finishing up the final few chords of _One Fine Day_ by The Chiffons as Tony walks up. 

“Mozart could never.” Peter jokes. “That was really cool, snowflake. I can get FRIDAY to start some music. Are you gonna go find Mr. Stark?”

“No need, but thanks kid.” Tony says, trying to take an inconspicuous deep breath. “I bet Nat could make you a Shirley Temple, she’s by the bar with Bruce and Clint.”

Peter nods, happily heading towards the stairs to find the bar. Tony takes his spot on the piano bench, hands in his pockets. Music starts to play over the speakers.

“You’re quite the hit with the cronies, _mimma_.” He says, mustering a half smile.

“Should I be happy or concerned?” She asks.

Tony doesn’t respond, shrugging. Via’s face falls.

“Are you okay?” She says, reaching out a tentative hand and placing it on Tony’s suit sleeve. Tony sits up and recovers, huffing. 

“Of course.” He responds. He stands up, dismissing the moment and holding out a hand for Via. “May I have this dance?”

“You may.” Via gives up for now, tabling the issue until later. 

Via recognizes the distinct first notes of _Strawberry Fields Forever _by The Beatles, hiding a grin by tucking her head to lay on Tony’s chest, wrapping her left arm around his waist and keeping hold of his left in her right.__

__They sway peacefully, Via fixating on the resounding and steady beat of Tony’s heart to drown out the constant chatter of the party. Tony’s heart slows down as they go, frustration melting away. This is them. No random intern is going to make him question the one thing he’s wanted for decades of his life._ _

__“You okay now?” Via asks as the song ends and the music switches back to some top forty song._ _

__“I wasn’t,” Tony tries, before giving up. He’d been caught. “Yeah, I am. Let’s go find people to bother.”_ _

__By people, Tony meant Bucky, Steve, and Sam, who are sitting in armchairs by the massive windows, waters in hand._ _

__“Pipsqueak!” Sam calls upon seeing the pair approach. “There you are, I was starting to think Tony would have you attached to that piano all night.”_ _

__“I give my employees breaks, Sam.” Tony grins. Sam gives him a doubtful look. “Saving the world has a different set of rules.”_ _

__“Sure it does.” Sam snorts. “Anyway, the geriatrics loved the throwbacks, Via.”_ _

__“You did?” She asks Steve and Bucky, quietly hopeful. She’d done some research and thrown in a few songs from the forties just for them._ _

__“ _Blue Skies_ is one of Steve’s favorites.” Bucky says, eyebrow quirking when he looks at Sam. “You got Sam a little choked up with _What a Wonderful World_.” _ _

__

__

__“I’m comfortable with my emotions. That won’t work on me, Barnes.” Sam says, smirking amusedly._ _

__“Tony, the governor is here and wants to say hello.” Pepper appears seemingly out of thin air, looking driven. “Now.”_ _

__“I hate these things.” Tony groans dramatically. “Are you up to meeting the governor, V? It’ll probably be a long hello.”_ _

__“I’m okay, you can go.” Via says, shaking her head. “I’ll be here.”_ _

__“I don’t blame you.” He says, giving her a side hug before he starts to walk away. “Stay with the guys, okay?”_ _

__“Will do.” She promises. “Good luck._ _

__“I’m gonna need it.”_ _

__\----_ _

__After Tony leaves, Sam does too, bringing Bucky along to get refills for the group’s waters. The playlist Via curated for the hour and a half of socializing time is in full swing, and one of the song’s Via put on for Steve and Bucky starts. Via had recorded herself playing _Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep_ , wanting a jazzier, wordless version for the party. Steve glances keenly at the dance floor feet away. _ _

__“Would you like to dance?” Via asks. “This is a good one.”_ _

__“It is. I would love to, Via.” He says, offering his hand._ _

__Via takes it, resting her other arm around his waist. Steve sways rhythmically, humming along to the song._ _

__“Thank you.” He says out of the blue._ _

__“What for?” Via asks, craning her neck to look at Steve._ _

__“Thinking of Buck and I was really sweet of you. Most of the time we leave the parties Tony has after the mandatory introductions. Big parties are usually too loud for us.” Steve explains, tentatively pulling back to spin Via. She follows with a grin._ _

__“No problem, really. I’m not a party person either.” She says. “Went to too many business dinners as a kid.”_ _

__“You did?” Steve asks._ _

__“My parents were work oriented people.” She says plainly. “I spent most weekends when I was a kid dressed up in pleated dresses with tights and mary janes for dinners.”_ _

__“Ah. You do make great party playlists, though.” He smiles warmly._ _

__“It’s a hidden talent, I guess.”_ _

__Bucky reappears beside Steve a moment later, tapping his shoulder._ _

__“I hate to be that guy, but could I steal her for a dance?” He asks Steve, grinning._ _

__“Of course, Buck.” He says, looking at Via when he lets her go. “Just like the forties.”_ _

__“Oh, you’re so dramatic.” He says, spinning Via as _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ starts playing. “Hi doll.”_ _

__“Hi Bucky, you look nice.” She compliments his black jeans and navy sweater._ _

__“You’re a sweetheart.” He says, swaying. “How have you been?”_ _

__“Alive.” She says, laughing into his sweater. “I’m good, how are you?”_ _

__“I’m happy to be here.” Bucky grins. “You’re good at this party thing.”_ _

__“I’m trying to be.”_ _

__\----_ _

___Closing Time_ is what Via chose to play as the last song of the night. Tony and Pepper exchange goodbyes and handshakes with the stragglers, and the rest of the team ambles around the piano and the empty loft dance floor. Sam gruffly laughs at something Steve says, Peter convinces a reluctant Natasha to let him spin her, Bruce taps his foot along to the song. Via can feel the smoothness of the piano keys with every tap, hear the little nuances in the rhythm as she plays. Every sense is dialed up just a little bit. She feels truly alive. Totally present. Good. Happy._ _


End file.
